


Gingerbread

by NylonRabbit



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Belly Kink, Belly Rubs, Candy Witch AU, Chubby Armitage Hux, Crack Treated Seriously, Emotional Healing, Fat Hux, Fluff and Angst, Food, Food Kink, Food Porn, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Force-Feeding, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Light Angst, Light Bondage, Light Horror, M/M, Magic, Married Life, Minor Character Death, Non-Chronological, Protective Kylo Ren, Rapid weight gain, Recovery, Sickfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trauma, Weight Gain, Witch Kylo Ren, fuck pryde, magical weight gain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-01-25 21:23:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21362890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NylonRabbit/pseuds/NylonRabbit
Summary: After a much needed woodland getaway from his stressful job in the city, Hux finds himself captured by a witch who has long been waiting for a beautiful husband to fatten up with his baking.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 195
Collections: Home Sweet Home





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [if you can't make your own husband, then store bought is fine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186215) by [TheSpaceCoyote](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote). 

For as long as he could remember, Armitage Hux’s life had been defined by fear.

If he’d had to pick, the main emotion Armitage had felt in his life before he’d met Kylo had been fear. It had been a recurring theme throughout his life. Fear of his father in his youth, fear of any potential failure in the demanding career the man had ultimately pushed him into. And then eventually, the fear of intimacy had gradually crept in, the unforgiving workload and job related stress convincing him he’d never be able to successfully make a connection with someone besides the obligational small talk within the staff room. Days, weeks, months, and eventually years passed by insignificantly. Every day the same, unrelenting and unsatisfying blur, his initial interest in the Architectural field and his exemplary talent for it deteriorating into a sense of complete hopelessness and apathy.

Finally, one day, midway through pretending to listen to a co-worker’s impassioned rant regarding the unsatisfactory temperature of the office water dispenser, Hux decided he’d had enough. Calm and polite as ever, he’d set his coffee cup down and walked out of the room. He made his way to the elevator, and got into his car. Several minutes of hesitation passed before he turned the ignition on and set off driving. At first, there had been no particular aim outside of escaping the grasp of his workplace for a couple hours, until it eventually occurred to him to get out of the city entirely.

_Arkanis Lake._

That was where he needed to be. His late grandparents’ cottage by Arkanis Lake, a beautiful and largely unpopulated forest area just an hour outside of the city. It had never been apparent to Armitage to take a visit there until now. It would be – or at least he _hoped _it would be – the perfect escape.

He pulled up outside the house around midday, realizing he was likely the first person to visit in over a decade. As he entered the property, that became even more clearer. He’d never been close to his extended family, in fact, Armitage had never been close to any member of his family with the slight exception of his mother, who had died when he was six. He’d spent the rest of his youth in boarding school, at the request of his father, who had separated himself from his son almost as soon as his wife had died. His father had never cared about him in any emotional sense, but given that Armitage still held the family name, there was of course a level of prestige that needed to be upheld.

Brendol Hux had been a successful man, high up in his field as a successful architect. But Armitage had never really experienced the benefits of having a rich parent, short of being discarded by way of an expensive education and being forced into a career he’d never felt fully equipped to cope with, despite his talents within the field. Several months after his mother died, Armitage had been sent to his mother’s sister Kalrissa, a relatively poor woman who worked as a home-based seamstress. It didn’t slip past Armitage’s notice that his eventual admission into a prestigious college had been purely on the part of his father’s nepotism. Armitage wasn’t stupid, he’d always known it had less to do with a concern for his future or wellbeing, and much more to do with Brendol Hux’s narcissistic parenting.

Because, of course, Armitage had to do well. How shameful it would be, how _disgraceful _it would be if he didn’t live up to his father’s expectations?

Cut to twenty years later. Brendol was dead, as was Kalrissa. Armitage was alone in the world now.

It had taken him a long time to realize it, but now, he supposed, he could do whatever he wanted.

As he surveyed the cottage, Armitage felt a residual sore ache in his chest from the stress of the past few months, and his decision to escape the city. To his dismay, the sense of ever-present fear and anxiety had not diminished as much as he would have hoped, and had instead re-centred itself in a dreadful anticipation of the consequences of diving out of work unannounced and becoming a no-show for the next few days.

Finally, he decided it would be a good idea to take a walk out into the woods, at the very least to clear his mind.

At first, the walk had seemed a little dull, but Armitage was at least glad for the refreshing breeze against his skin and the vaguely sweet smell of the Fall air. He followed what looked to be a freshly laid out path, the shrubbery and vegetation having been cut away to make way for a clear walkway. It was a scenic walk, but nothing really seemed to affect him until the sweet smell of the forestry gave way to a different, much more saccharine scent.

Armitage felt his stomach rumble and churn as he took in the misplaced yet delightfully sugary aroma, realizing for the first time it had been over 24 hours since he’d last eaten. His lithe frame, shivering under his loose fitting clothes and having been deprived for so long, suddenly begged him to follow the scent, desperate for any form of sustenance. The recent stress had not been good for his eating patterns, after all. In fact, in the last few months, he’d lost a significant amount of weight as a result.

Without thinking, he followed the scent, travelling off the path and into the dense woods, all the while feeling strangely entranced with the desire to find his destination, the origin of that wonderful, comforting air…

Finally, he came to an opening in the trees, gaze finally settling upon a nearby cabin. Armitage blinked then, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. It would have been strange enough that such an alluring smell had been coming from the cabin, but even stranger still, was the cabin’s appearance. He must have been hallucinating from exhaustion, surely. _A life-size gingerbread house?_ No. There could be no way a house was realistically made out of…._cookies and candy_. His eyes must have been deceiving him. It would be _impossible. _

And that had been the last thing Armitage remembered thinking before losing consciousness entirely.

________

‘Ah good, you’re awake.’

Armitage awoke to a familiar sensation of dread, realizing he was now in an unfamiliar room, wrists bound to the chair he’d apparently been seated in. He struggled against his restraints, body writhing in desperation as much as could have been allowed. His vision finally came into focus, eyes met with whoever had been speaking to him. Standing before him now, was a tall, pale man, dark tousled locks framing his face, a slender, toned frame adorning what seemed to be some sort of fancy dress outfit. The man was draped in a set of dark, floaty garments, from what Armitage had to guess were a mixture of velvets and silks, but the strangest element of his attire had to be the tall, black hat atop his head. His features were chiselled, yet there was a softness to the man’s expression that didn’t quite match up to the situation. This only added to the confusion of Armitage’s current predicament.

‘Don’t struggle,’ the man told him, his voice a soft, almost disembodied whisper that seemed to dance across the walls of the confectionary glazed room. ‘There’s no need to be afraid.’

Armitage scoffed at that, throwing his head back as he did so, before setting his gaze back upon the man.

‘_Really?’ _he snarled. ‘And what exactly are you supposed to be, a witch? Halloween was last week, you do realize…’

The man chuckled.

‘A witch, yes. Is that really so hard to believe?’

The man gestured towards the side of the nearby stove, and Armitage now realized he was sat in this mad man’s kitchen. This realization, however, was immediately eclipsed by the sight of a hovering plate, lifting up from the side of the stove and drifting across to the table he’s been seated at, finally setting itself down before him.

Armitage’s heart leapt in a mixture of terror and confusion then as he focused on the plate of gingerbread cookies before him.

‘W-what is this?!’ he stammered.

‘Well, I’ve just told you, dear. I’m a witch. Here, I baked you something, you look like you could use a good treat,’ the man smiled, walking over to where Armitage sat and leaning over to pick up one of the cookies. The witch held it up to his lips. ‘I thought you might appreciate me making something especially for you. Look, they match your hair!’

Armitage frowned.

‘I’m not going to eat that,’ he muttered. ‘What in the hell is wrong with you?’!

The other man’s brow furrowed then. He seemed hurt by the remark.

‘Listen, Armitage, that’s your name, right?’

Armitage’s eyes widened at that.

‘How did you…’

‘As I said, I’m a witch. Magical abilities, and all of that. I know things about people without them telling me,’ the man shrugged. ‘Since I know your name, I suppose you deserve to know mine. I’m Kylo, and it’s very nice to meet you, Armitage. Or would you prefer Armie? That’s your nickname, isn’t it?’

‘What do you _want_ from me?!’ Armitage spat, resuming his previous efforts to break free from his restraints.

‘I told you not to do that, you’ll hurt yourself!’ Kylo insisted, a sadness in his tone and expression then. ‘Please, I just want you to taste my baking! Won’t you? I know you’ll love it! Besides, you haven’t been eating recently…’

He offered the cookie up towards Armitage once more.

‘Look how skinny you are,’ Kylo shook his head. ‘Now that just won’t do. I want you to see how happy my cooking will make you.’

And then, with a sudden wave of the man’s hands, Armitage felt a strange, compelling need to oblige wash over him. Without meaning to, he opened his mouth, and Kylo eagerly popped the cookie into his mouth, and suddenly he was chewing and swallowing without a second’s thought. A second cookie was brought up to his lips, and once again, he devoured it momentarily. By the time the next plate of cookies had been retrieved, the pure bliss Armitage had begun to feel at the taste had eclipsed the fear of being held captive he’d felt earlier. Despite the fact he was clearly being magically compelled to continue eating, the sensation of feeling so full and satisfied for the first time since he could remember seemed to reduce any initial panic he’d been experiencing. Armitage had been so absorbed in eating the witch’s baked goods, in fact, that he’d failed to notice the effects it had taken on his body. It wasn’t until he’d allowed Kylo to feed him his third plateful of cookies that he’d finally looked down at his body.

‘What in the hell…’

Armitage wished he’d had his hands free to physically survey the sight before him now. Within the space of less than an hour, his previously concave stomach had somehow been transformed into a large, rounded out belly which now sat heavy in his lap, his shirt having rode up enough to reveal a panel of softened flesh. And as he further inspected his figure, Armitage realized this was far from the only changes the cookies had made. In fact, his whole body had softened up, his thighs, his arms, his chest, every aspect of his body had plumped up and added to his now extremely round physique.

He gasped in a mixture of shock and horror.

‘Hey, look at me, it’s alright,’ he heard Kylo’s voice reassuring him, and Armitage looked up at the man then, eyes glowering with a combination of rage and fear.

‘What have you done to me?!’ Armitage spat.

‘Don’t you like it?’ Kylo asked, hurt expression on his face now. ‘You look wonderful! You needed fattening up a little, I just thought I’d help!’

‘What?! You’d call this _fattening me up a little?!_’ Armitage shrieked in dismay. ‘Look at me, I’m enormous!’

‘You’re beautiful, Armitage,’ Kylo told him, pulling up a chair in order to sit by his side. He placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder, rubbing it gently. ‘I thought you’d like this, I saw you out there in the woods, all alone. You seemed so sad. I just wanted to make you happy. Didn’t you enjoy my baking?’

Armitage sighed, his frown diminishing somewhat, but he remained tense.

‘Of course I did,’ he relented. ‘But I would have liked a heads up that it was…it was…’

‘Enchanted?’ Kylo asked. ‘I’m sorry about that, I just thought it’d help you enjoy it more. Truth be told, I didn’t think you’d enjoy it _this_ much. The enchantment was simply meant to make you appreciate the taste more. But I suppose you, uh…I suppose you enjoyed it quite a lot more than expected,’ he chuckled. ‘I guess I haven’t practised this spell that many times.’

As he glared back at the other man, Armitage felt his expression soften. There was something in Kylo’s eyes, a warmness that he’d seldom seen directed towards him before by anyone. He hated to admit it, but it felt good. It felt good to have someone look at him this way, to treat him like he actually mattered…

‘I’m sorry if you don’t like the side effects,’ Kylo apologized. ‘Perhaps you could let me make it up to you?’

With a sudden wave of Kylo’s hands, Armitage felt the ropes around his wrists unravel and fall to the floor. He knew, in that moment, he probably should have jumped up and ran for the door, tried anything he could to get away, but for some reason, he didn’t.

‘So, what? You’ve kidnapped me? Is that what this is?’ he asked after a moment’s pause. ‘Why?’

‘Such a terrible word. Please try not to think of it like that,’ Kylo shook his head. ‘I just wanted to help you, that’s all. I sensed your fear, your pain out there in the woods. You were hurt, and lonely, weren’t you? But you strike me as the sort who wouldn’t ask for help. Give me the opportunity to make that better, make it go away…’

Armitage raised his eyebrows.

‘And how exactly do you plan to do that?’

Kylo reached over then, placing a hand over Armitage’s now sizeable belly, rubbing it gently.

‘Just let me look after you,’ he smiled. ‘I’m sure I can make everything better.’

Armitage didn’t respond but made no attempt to push Kylo’s hands away either. It felt rather soothing after all. He hated to admit it, but there was something so reassuring and loving in the other man’s touch and tone of voice that he couldn’t quite bring himself to reject the offer.

There was a sudden ding from the oven, and Kylo got up from his chair.

‘Looks like my fourth batch of cookies are ready,’ Kylo beamed. ‘I hope you’re still hungry!’

Armitage rolled his eyes, but remained seated, the fresh aroma of gingerbread flooding his senses as the oven door sprung open. An absent-minded stray hand reached down to rub his newly expanded middle. He sighed.

_Perhaps he could get used to this…_


	2. Ripley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An entranced Armitage encounters a twisted, bitter ex of Kylo's out in the woods at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for fat shaming, not from Kylo however.

‘Lay back.’

Armitage did as he was told, laying back against the soft covers of the bedspread and breathing out a blissful sigh as he felt Kylo pull his shirt up to reveal his impressively large tummy.

It had now been six months since Armitage had ventured out into the woods and been captured and fattened up by Kylo, and honestly, Armitage couldn’t remember a period of time in his life he’d ever been happier. In the past few months since his initial capture, he’d gone from being a skinny, lonely man, completely unfulfilled with his life, to finally feeling a sense of happiness and belonging he could have never imagined was possible. Kylo may have fattened him up against his will initially, but Armitage had never felt any reason to resent him for it, or to escape. In fact, his love for Kylo had steadily increased at the same rate his weight had. Since his capture and Kylo’s initial force feeding of enchanted cookies that had transformed his figure from its lithe, semi-skeletal form into a pleasantly plump one, Armitage had found himself lost in Kylo’s love and affection. And also his cooking.

Six months of Kylo’s care and cooking had certainly had further effects to his figure, and even though his new husband had promised not to enchant his meals any more, Armitage still found them too delicious to resist finishing every last bite. As a result, he was now almost twice the size he’d been since his first spurt of magically induced weight gain on the day of his capture. But he didn’t mind. He felt loved and cared for, and that was all that mattered.

Back to the present moment, and here he was, laying back in anticipation of whatever it was Kylo was planning, watching as his beautiful husband disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing shortly afterwards with a bowl of frosting in his hands.

‘Now, what are you doing with that?’ Armitage chuckled, watching as Kylo scooped his hand into the bowl and gasping as he felt the sudden chill of it being slavered across the vast expanse of his belly.

‘Well, I’m making a cupcake of course, darling,’ Kylo beamed, ensuring the frosting was evenly spread across his stomach. ‘You’re so delectable after all.’

Armitage laughed, feeling his whole body warm as he felt Kylo’s lips press against his forehead, travelling across to his chubby cheeks, and finally planting a kiss against his lips. He watched as his husband turned away to reach for something, and he felt a sudden pressure in his belly button as something was pushed into it.

‘There we go!’ Kylo grinned. ‘The finishing touch!’

Armitage looked down at the vast dome of his belly then to see a cherry had been placed into his navel. He couldn’t help but laugh.

‘You’re my perfect cupcake, Armie,’ Kylo smiled, leaning in to kiss him again. ‘And now I’m going to gobble you up!’

Kylo crawled on top of Armitage, showering him with kisses, before turning his attention to his decorated stomach. He lapped up every inch of the frosting spread across the big tummy before him until it was completely gone, finally plucking the cherry out of the deep crevice of Armitage’s belly button and popping it into his mouth. He bit into it with a playful smirk, pulling Armitage’s pajama shirt back down and patting his belly before he scooted up next to him, pulling the redhead into a warm, comforting embrace.

‘I love you Kylo,’ Armitage breathed happily, his head lolling into the crevice of Kylo’s shoulder.

‘I love you too, cupcake,’ Kylo chuckled, squeezing his husband tightly and placing a gentle kiss against his forehead.

‘You do realize, I’m going to have to take a bath before bed now,’ Armitage sighed, after a while, reluctantly pulling himself away from Kylo and getting up out of bed.

‘Do you have to?’ Kylo complained.

‘Kylo, you’ve just covered me in frosting and considered _licking it off me_ a sufficient method of keeping me clean,’ Armitage raised an eyebrow, a smile on his face. ‘_Yes_, I have to get a bath.’

‘Fine, fine,’ Kylo relented, rolling over to his side of the bed. ‘Just hurry back, won’t you, Armie? It doesn’t feel right falling asleep without you.’

‘I should think not,’ Armitage laughed, before heading to the en suite.

Twenty minutes later, he returned, feeling refreshed and sleepy. Kylo had been waiting for him, and with a flick of his hand, the covers enveloped the both of them, Kylo humming with bliss as he felt Armitage finally lay down, sighing and relaxing within his arms.

‘Goodnight, darling,’ Kylo whispered, rubbing his husband’s shoulder as the two of them began to drift off into sleep. ‘See you tomorrow.’

_________

Armitage’s eyes snapped open to the sight of complete darkness, and for a brief moment, it seemed as if he’d just woken up in the middle of night for no reason, as he sometimes did.

Then he saw the beams of light.

Four large, rotating orbs were dancing around the edge of the bed now, and somehow, rather than feel confused or afraid, Armitage found himself entranced by them, so fascinated he pushed the covers away and hauled himself out of bed.

The lights seemed to glow in and out of focus, darting across the room with a steadily increasing pace. Without thinking, Armitage found himself taking his pyjamas off and reaching for his neatly folded outfit for the next day on the nearby chair, realizing now he would be following the lights.

Once he was fully dressed, the mysterious lights moved their direction out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Eventually, they moved out of sight entirely, and it was then that Armitage heard the front door of the cottage creak open, hearing the whir of the lights travel outside.

A strange, compelling urge in Armitage knew he needed to continue following them.

‘Wait,’ he whispered, dashing through the house until he was outside and having finally caught up, now standing by the candy cane gates of the cottage. He watched as the lights swept into the depths of the forest before him.

_Follow us, Armitage, follow us…_

The omniscient voice seemed as if it had glided straight across the woods and into his mind, the trees before him whirring and rustling. He felt a deep sense of fear in his chest, but an even deeper, inexplicable sense of compulsion to follow the lights.

He opened the gate, finding his mind glazing over with every step further he took towards the forest.

And then, the whispering voices returned.

_That’s right, Armitage, follow the lights, follow them through the trees…_

Armitage followed the voice into the woods, finally finding himself in a large opening, almost completely circular, so darkened by the wall of tall trees he imagined it would have seemed dark here even in daylight. His eyes searched around, finding his mind clearing all of a sudden, wondering just why he’d thought it a good idea to wander out of the safety of his and Kylo’s home into the woods in the middle of the night at all…

There was no longer any sign of the lights.

And that was when he spotted the dark figure, standing across from him now on the other side of the trees.

Armitage gasped, his stomach leaping in fear and his heart pounding against his chest.

There was a sudden creak, and before he could so much as run, he found himself being pulled backwards, watching as the circle of trees around him conjoined together into some form of cage. Armitage gasped in horror as he felt the tug of enchanted branches wrapping themselves around his limbs, pulling him tight against the trunk of one of the trees.

The figure in the distance let out a spine tingling laugh, pacing towards him, the moonlight finally reflecting their being clearly.

Standing before him now, Armitage was met with the sight of an incredibly slim man with a pale, gaunt face. He seemed to be around his age, dressed from head to toe in black, and there was something in the other’s extremely pale blue eyes that seemed somewhat otherworldly.

It became apparent to Armitage then, that this man was a witch, just like Kylo.

He tried to swallow back his fear, mind drifting to Kylo, of their lovely shared home, wishing more than anything now he was back in the safety of those sweet, comforting gingerbread walls. He thought back to just a few hours ago, having felt so warm and happy in his husband’s arms. The thought that this may be his last memory with Kylo formed a lump in his throat and a deep pain in his chest.

‘Well now, look at you,’ the man chuckled, taking a further step forward towards Armitage, a deranged grin spread across his face. ‘I have to say, I never expected Kylo to fall for a redhead. You don’t really seem to be his usual type…’

Armitage shuddered as the man approached him, struggling against the restraints of the enchanted branches to no avail. He realized then that his entire body was shaking in fear. He found himself completely lost for words, fear gripping him so intensely now he couldn’t even think up some form of strategic plea for his life.

‘My name’s Ripley, by the way. An old friend of your husband, actually. I have to say, whatever the appeal is, he seems to _really_ love you,’ the man snarled, closing up the last few inches between them, producing a sharp, glowing object from his coat pocket, which Armitage could only assume was some form of enchanted blade. He held it up towards Armitage’s throat. 

‘I thought he’d fattened me up when we were together, but he didn’t fatten me up to anywhere near such an impressive size as you! I’ve been watching him, you see. I saw you that first day, out in the woods before he captured you, such a skinny thing, weren’t you? He clearly hasn’t wasted any time in filling you up!’

Ripley reached out with his free hand then to pat Armitage’s belly, before removing it to lift up the bottom of his own shirt, revealing a now slender stomach sporting a layer of loose skin, as if to prove a point.

‘I lost the weight, you see,’ Ripley continued, before pulling his shirt down. ‘It was necessary to do so. I needed to be as agile and powerful physically as I was magically. It was paramount to me in prioritizing my education and practice of darker magic. But your beloved husband simply couldn’t understand that. He didn’t agree with it at all. Clearly, he’d rather focus his magic on making enchanted baked goods for some insignificant, roly-poly human.’

And despite his fear, Hux couldn’t stop himself.

‘Well, fuck you, Ripley. Kylo loves me!’

Ripley let out an exaggerated cackle, throwing his head back as he did so.

‘Of course, he would like you to think that. But let’s be honest for a second, shall we, _Armie_?’ he laughed, enunciating Armitage’s nickname as if to mock him. ‘The reality is, he plucked you from the woods and used his magic to entice you to stay. Shit, at least with me I volunteered to let him turn me into the fat pig he’s now turned _you _into.’

Armitage felt a surge of defensive rage for both himself and Kylo then.

_How dare this person even think to speak badly of their relationship?_

‘He’s going to find me,’ he hissed. ‘And when he does, you’re going to pay.’

Ripley raised his eyebrows, before bursting out into a fit of laughter.

‘Oh, you sweet thing. You really have no idea how weak your husband is compared to me, do you? You do realize, I could break your neck or simply stop your heart entirely with a click of my fingers, don’t you? The only reason I haven’t done so is because I want him to _see._ I want him to see how much he’s been wasting his powers, how much it is going to cost him. And then, he’ll finally see how much better he could have been with me…’

Armitage felt tears well in his eyes then, finding himself lost for words, his mind searching desperately for Kylo’s presence.

_Kylo, please, help me…_

And that was when it happened, the fusing spell of the trees splitting apart with a sudden whir of energy, Armitage feeling his heart flutter at the sound of approaching, stomping footsteps.

He looked to his side then, and saw that Kylo was there.

But there was little time for relief, and in a flash, Armitage found the bindings of the branches coiling away, Ripley manhandling him to the centre of the opening, enchanted blade once again at his throat, Ripley’s free arm gripping him tightly.

Armitage felt his whole body flood with terror, looking back at his distraught husband now with teary eyes.

‘Kylo…’ he gasped, voice breaking. In this moment, the clear despair painted across his husband’s face seemed even more heart-breaking than the prospect of his imminent demise.

‘Shut up,’ Ripley snapped, before turning his attention to Kylo. ‘Surprised to see me, Kylo? I’d expected more from you, to be honest. Since you’d settled with this worthless, pathetic human I would have at least anticipated a stronger set of barrier spells around your home…’

Kylo approached with caution, but Armitage knew him well enough to see the change in his expression, there was now very little fear in his eyes. The gaze his husband gave back wasn’t that of terror. It was a warning.

‘Let him go, Ripley,’ Kylo muttered careful steps advancing against the forest floor. ‘You don’t want to do this, trust me.’

‘Oh believe me, Kylo, I do…’ Ripley snarled, gripping Armitage tighter than before, pressing the enchanted blade even closer to his throat. ‘You’d rather settle down with this fat, useless human than be with me again and reach your full potential?!’

Ripley laughed, and Armitage couldn’t help but let out a stifled sob then, fearing this may very well be the end.

‘I’m warning you,’ Kylo muttered. ‘Don’t you dare hurt him…’

‘Oh, what?’ Ripley asked, taking the blade away from Armitage’s throat and pushing him to the side momentarily. ‘Like this?’

With a flick of Ripley’s hand, Armitage felt himself being lifted into the air and hurled across the forest opening, his body colliding with a nearby tree. He gasped in pain, letting out an agonized sob, feeling so startled he was unable to look back at the scene before him.

The whole thing seemed to pass by Armitage in a blur of flashing lights, and he feared the worst, feared he was just moments away from finally being able to sit up and witness his husband - his whole world – drop to the floor, dead.

And then, there was the sudden beam of red light, so intense it seemed to shake through the trees and vibrate the ground below him, stinging his vision as he looked up at the night sky. Instinctively, Armitage squeezed his eyes shut. The rumbling of the forest opening scattered leaves from the trees, and he felt them cascade down from up above.

It was at that point that he lost consciousness.

________

‘Armie?! Armie, please, wake up! Wake up!’

Armitage finally regained consciousness, feeling Kylo’s arms clamped tightly against his shoulders, shaking him.

He realized Kylo was sobbing. He hadn’t witnessed such a sight before, and it was jarring. For a short moment, Armitage wondered if he in fact, really _was _dead.

‘…Kylo?’ he just about managed to rasp in his daze. ‘Is…is that you?’

‘Oh god, Armie, you’re OK!’ he felt himself being pulled into a warm embrace then, Kylo’s arms wrapped as far as they would go around him, squeezing him tightly. ‘It’s over, Armie,’ he heard Kylo whisper, feeling the gentle touch of his husband’s hand against his face shortly afterwards. ‘He’s gone!’

Armitage finally focused his eyes, looking across and seeing the blurry aftermath of Kylo’s victory. He didn’t mean to flinch at the sight, but he did anyway. Ripley was nowhere to be seen, the only evidence of Kylo’s magic being a large, charred mark in the forest grounds where he’d previously been standing. Armitage felt scared, having never seen the effects of Kylo’s powers to their fullest extent until now, but he also felt grateful. He’d always known his husband would protect him, but he’d never seen just _how _much power the man had to actually back that up.

As Kylo helped him to his feet, he decided to let whatever fear he had swimming around his mind go, knowing the man holding him in his arms now would only ever exert such power to protect him. He suddenly felt simultaneously more vulnerable than he ever had in his entire life and yet somehow so protected at the same time. Here he was, a mere human, being loved, cared for and protected by such an unimaginably powerful being.

And as they reached the gate of their home, Kylo must have heard him.

‘Being human doesn’t make you any less precious to me, darling,’ Kylo smiled, a hand against the small of Armitage’s back as he pushed open the candy cane gate of their garden. ‘I need you to know that.’

Armitage felt taken aback, unsure of what to say as the doors of their house were pushed open and his senses were instantly flooded with the comforting, sugary scent of their home, overcome with a sense of familiar warmth he’d feared he would never experience again. He beamed with appreciation as soon as Kylo shut the doors of their gingerbread cottage behind them.

They went to bed straight away, the pair of them falling asleep in each other’s arms, Kylo holding Armitage tight and comforting him as gently as possible until the redhead finally drifted off into sleep. 

Later that day, as they awoke, Kylo set the strongest protection spell in his power over their home, allowing only those who meant them well inside, ensuring, in his own words, that nothing would ever come to harm his beautiful husband ever again.


	3. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux and Kylo spend their first Christmas together.
> 
> (Set in-between chapters 1 & 2, sorry but this fic is no longer chronological lol)

In all thirty-two years of his life, Armitage had never experienced the so-called magic and wonder of Christmas until right now.

Kylo had created a fireplace this year for the first time. Witches were perfectly able to make their own warming spells for their body temperature, but humans were another matter. Armitage was the first human to end up in the cottage since he’d created it.

‘Are you warm enough, pudding?’ Armitage heard Kylo ask, as his new boyfriend stepped through the doorway of the lounge.

Armitage turned his attention away from the tree then to smile back at Kylo.

‘Yes, dear,’ he beamed. ‘I just want to make sure the decorations are perfect.’

‘I’m sure they will be, Armie,’ Kylo smiled, a sweet admiration in his eyes as he looked back at his new boyfriend.

Armitage turned his gaze away from Kylo, continuing with his work as his boyfriend made his way back into the kitchen, hanging up each tree decoration with meticulous precision.

Since he’d inadvertently left his architectural career back in the city, Armitage had craved the desire to create again. Back at the high powered job in his old life, he’d been very little more than an employee number and a dog’s body for the cooperation he worked for, his creativity stifled. Armitage was glad to be free of that now, but he still had an urge to use his creative talents. It may have seemed small scale, but right now, this seemed to be the perfect fix.

He placed the last ornament on the tree, smiling to himself in approval. For a moment, he felt truly happy with his achievement. But then an unexpected pang of self-criticism hit him. He’d let his deep sense of control slip between his fingers, and now, here he was, missing without a trace from his career and any semblance of a normal life he’d strived for, arguably quite a successful one at that.

Armitage suddenly found himself feeling extremely distressed, questioning every element of himself, his heart thumping in his chest. He turned away from the tree sharply then, and jumped at the sound of shattering glass.

He turned back around to see several broken ornaments now littering the floor below the tree, realizing the culprit at once. He’d knocked the ornaments from the tree with his new, considerably larger belly. The realization flushed his cheeks bright red. This was the first Christmas he’d ever spent with a chubby frame, and given the nature of how he’d become so plump in the first place, it was quite the transition. Learning to accept and understand how to take up so much additional space without being so clumsy that he broke everything he came into contact with had been a real challenge for Armitage since he’d been fattened up. After all, a little over two months ago, he’d been so thin it had hurt his bones to sleep against the springs of his mattress.

For the most part though, Armitage was really starting to feel comfortable with himself, both with his new life and his new body, his old life back in the city paling in comparison.

Smelling the sweet aroma of freshly baked goods, Armitage decided to finally leave the lounge and see whatever it was Kylo was cooking up in the kitchen.

‘Kylo, dear, I think I may have broken some of your ornaments,' Armitage began, somewhat sheepishly as he entered the kitchen.

'I heard.' Kylo chuckled, a knowing look in his eyes. 'Don't worry about it. I'm sure you didn't mean to. We'll fix it later.'

Armitage breathed a sigh of relief.

'And yet, something's still bothering you, isn't it?' Kylo tipped his head, examining his boyfriend then.

'Well. Yes. I’ve been meaning to ask you, have you seen my sketchbook? It seems to have gone missing.’

Since Armitage had been staying with Kylo, he’d opened up to him about his old life, his previous career in architecture, and his desire to create. Kylo had immediately used his magic to make a sketchbook for his boyfriend, and Armitage had taken no time in filling it out with pictures of his dream structures his workplace and bosses had never allowed him to create. Once the initial book had been filled, Kylo had created him another, and the two of them had spent many nights cuddled up in bed looking through Armitage’s various, elaborate designs. He was already on his fifth sketchbook.

Kylo was in the process of pulling a tray of freshly baked sugar cookies out of the oven now.

‘Can’t say I’ve seen your book, pudding. I can cast a searching spell for it once we get back from our walk, if you like?’

‘Yes. I’d like to sketch whatever we see on our walk whilst it’s still fresh in my memory once we get back.’

‘That’s understandable,’ Kylo agreed, taking his oven gloves off and undoing his apron, looking over Armitage once he’d plated up the cookies and set them to cool on the table. ‘You are ready for the walk, aren’t you? You can’t possibly be considering going out without the new coat I made you.’

‘I am! It’s just…the coat, well it’s just…’

‘Oh, you don’t like it?’ Kylo asked, face dropping in disappointment.

‘No, no of course not! I love the design...

‘But…?’

‘It seems a little…roomy. At least, it did when I tried it on earlier.’

‘Oh?’ Kylo’s brows furrowed. ‘Sorry, dear, I must have miscalculated your size a little. I can make sure it fits just right before we go out.’

‘That’d be nice. I’ll go get it, shall I?’ Armitage made a move for the doorway.

‘Wouldn’t you like to try one of these first? They’re still warm!’ Kylo gestured towards the plate of freshly made cookies.

Armitage had to admit, they _did _smell delicious.

‘Ok, go on then.’

Kylo turned his back to him briefly, standing over the table momentarily, presumably to admire his baking. He eventually brought them over, holding the plate up to him.

‘Take your pick, they’re all shaped and decorated differently, I thought you might like the variety!’

Armitage surveyed his options, a snowflake, a snowman, a Christmas tree, amongst others. He finally decided on a witch’s hat, which had been decorated in seasonal red, gold and green icing, dusted with a finish of edible glitter. He bit into it, closing his eyes and savoring the delightful sweetness as he did.

‘That was delicious,’ Armitage sighed happily once he’d finished.

Several seconds later, however, he felt a slight pressure rising in his belly, his stomach suddenly feeling incredibly full, pushing forward as if he were taking a deep breath outwards that wouldn’t go back in. All of a sudden, he felt his belly pushing against his previously rather loose fitting sweater, his pants growing snugger all around, but not necessarily uncomfortably so. Armitage gasped then, looking down to see he had in fact plumped up somewhat all over, his clothes still fitting his body, but now considerably tighter than before.

‘Kylo…did you…did you enchant that plate of cookies?’ Armitage swallowed, tearing his attention away from his body to meet Kylo’s gaze.

‘Well, I did say I’d make sure your new coat fit you for the walk, didn’t I?’ Kylo chuckled, reaching out to inspect the somewhat rounder belly before him, a slender finger pressing into the now visible indentation of Armitage’s belly button against his sweater, wiggling it around a couple of times.

‘Ok, stop that, it tickles!’ Armitage laughed, batting Kylo’s hand away; he couldn’t be mad at him. ‘You couldn’t have maybe just shrunk my coat slightly?’

‘Well now, where would the fun in that have been?’ Kylo teased.

‘You can have this one, but no more enchanted cookies, OK?’ Armitage took on an authoritative tone he was fairly sure he hadn’t used since back in the city at his old job. ‘Or any other food, for that matter, understand? I don’t want our next walk to be you rolling me around the forest. Besides, you know I’ll eat whatever you cook me anyway, it’s all too delicious not to!’

‘Ok, pudding, if you say so, I won’t enchant anything else I make for you,’ Kylo laughed, taking his hand away from Armitage’s belly and rubbing his shoulder.

‘And you can promise me that, can you?’ Armitage asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Of course! Now, go and get your coat!’

________

‘So, where exactly is it we’re walking to?’ Armitage asked as he buttoned up the last of the buttons on his coat, finding that it fit perfectly now.

‘That’s a surprise! Don’t forget your scarf,’ Kylo reminded him, pulling the thick woollen scarf he’d hand knitted for Armitage from the stand and walking over to him, wrapping it around his neck several times until it became a thick, bunched up roll around his boyfriend’s plump face.

‘Hmm. Do you think I’ll be warm enough?’ Armitage smirked.

‘You’ll forgive me once you set outside,’ Kylo replied, gripping hold of his boyfriend’s gloved hands then. ‘I know how easily you humans get cold.’

Kylo took a step back from him in order to retrieve his own, much lighter coat from the stand, taking in the view of his boyfriend, now geared up in his new winter attire.

‘You look so adorable, Armie,’ he chuckled. ‘You look like a big, plump gingerbread man right now! I could just eat you up!’

‘Oh, shut up!’ Armitage scoffed, heading for the door. ‘Come on, I want to see the snow! This is the first time I’ve seen real snow that hasn’t been gray, tire marked slush!’

Kylo followed him, and as they opened the door and stepped outside into the snow-laden garden, Kylo broke off an enchanted icicle hanging down from the edge of the rooftop. Last week, as the snow had started falling, he’d set a charm around the house which would convert any snow that fell around the vicinity of their home and garden to frosting, and Armitage had certainly been enjoying the novelty.

‘Here you go,’ he beamed, handing Hux the enhanced, sugary treat. ‘For the walk.’

They left the comfort of home and trekked out into the thick snow outside, the snow seemingly deepening with every step they took away from their cottage.

They walked until they reached an opening in the forest, and as much as Armitage had enjoyed holding hands with Kylo, his desire to indulge in the fresh snow overtook him, and he found himself letting go of Kylo’s hand and trudging slightly further into the snow, just far away enough from his boyfriend to cup a ball of snow in his hands and hurl it towards him.

The ball hit Kylo, but Armitage watched in surprise as it slid down his sleek, black attire, his face met with total mystery,

For a brief moment, Armitage felt guilty. It became obvious to him very quickly that Kylo clearly didn’t understand the concept of a snowball fight.

‘Oh, Kylo, I’m sorry,’ Armitage began. ‘I didn’t realize…’

He was immediately cut off with an onslaught of magically propelled snowballs, knocking him to the floor where he fell with a soft thud.

‘Armie!’ Kylo cried out, rushing over to him and pulling him up from the snow.

‘I’m so sorry! Are you OK?’ Kylo asked, holding Armitage in his arms, pained expression spreading across his face.

Armitage laughed.

‘I’m fine, Kylo, of course I’m fine. We were having a snowball fight, it was just a bit of fun…’

‘Right, yes, of course…’ Kylo breathed. ‘A snowball fight, I get that.’

_He clearly didn’t._

‘That’s OK, I know you do.’

And as Kylo helped him to his feet, Armitage realized Kylo had never had a snowball fight in his entire life.

‘Are you going to tell me exactly where it is we’re going yet, already?’ Armitage asked, then.

‘Not much longer now,’ Kylo smiled. ‘Just follow me.’

________

The walk went on for another ten minutes or so before they finally reached their destination. Kylo had insisted on holding Armitage’s hand through the forest, guiding him through the trees until they’d eventually reached another opening.

‘Here you go, pudding,’ Kylo beamed, squeezing his hand. Think of this as your early Christmas present.’

They reached what would have been the frozen lake.

And Armitage looked upon the sight before him, finding himself almost brought to tears. Before him stood a construction of ice, perfectly formed to resemble one of the most elaborate buildings he’d ever seen. Stripped right out of his most recent sketchbook, stood an elaborate ice palace, Armitage’s dream construction. The building replicated everything Armitage had included in his most recent designs within his sketchbook. Everything had been so perfectly replicated, from the admittedly ostentatious design of the turrets to the uniquely designed bay windows overlooking many of the balconies, he could hardly believe the sight before him.

‘Kylo…you…you…’

‘Please don’t be mad,’ Kylo’s hand pressed against the small of his back then. ‘I’m sorry I stole your sketchbook, but I just thought you’d like to see your ideas finally come to life.’

Armitage swallowed, wanting this to be a happy moment for himself.

‘Thank you, Kylo,’ he smiled, eventually, looking back at his boyfriend. ‘Shall we visit it?’

‘Of course, pudding.’

The palace was every bit as wondrous inside as it was outside, and Armitage felt his heart flutter with joy and excitement as he set his eyes upon the tall, winding icy staircases, the high, decorated ceiling, and the beautifully decorated ice pillars.

‘Oh, Kylo,’ Armitage gasped, his voice catching as he felt a lump form in throat, feeling himself on the verge of tears. ’This is perfect.’

Kylo squeezed his hand, planting a kiss against his cheek.

‘This is all from your designs, Armie,’ he smiled. ‘I just went with the material I had. It’s all from your designs and ideas, Armitage, the drawings in your sketchbook, I just wanted to create something you’d be proud of. The charm I used to create it won’t last long, so I thought it best to show you it straight away.’

‘Thank you, Kylo,’ Armitage breathed, finding himself lost for words.

‘You’re welcome, sweetheart.’

‘And I suppose that solves the mystery of where my sketchbook went,’ Armitage chuckled, finding himself distracted suddenly by the presence of an icy chair being lowered to his level, hovering before him.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘Well, your design had a lot of stairs,’ Kylo admitted. ‘I didn’t want to trouble you with having to walk up all of them, with your new figure, and all. This will take you wherever you want.’

Armitage smiled at that. He’d spent a good chunk of his working life climbing up a seemingly endless series of staircases, having bought into the culture of fitbits and step monitoring. But he was over that now. His previous career and everyday life had given him enough stress to last him a lifetime. He happily took a seat in the ice chair, his mind spinning with anticipation as he felt himself being pulled towards the top of the ice palace, the enchanted chair finally leaving him at the utmost balcony, high over the snow-laden forest. He took in the amazing view, feeling the surprisingly fresh, icy chill of the winter air.

‘Did you enjoy the ride?’

He jumped then, having not expected Kylo’s sudden presence.

‘It was a little scary,’ Armitage admitted. ‘But this view is exquisite. Just as I’d planned for this balcony in particular.’

Kylo smiled at that, walking over to where Armitage sat and grasping hold of his hands, bending down to meet him level.

‘Armitage,’ he beamed, reaching into the pocket of his coat and producing a large, sparkling diamond ring. ‘Will you marry me?’

Armitage felt his heart flutter then, overcome with emotion. After everything he’d been through in his life, the stress, the agony, the anxiety…

And yet, here he was now, being presented with a beautiful ring, a sign of eternal commitment from the man he loved.

‘Yes, Kylo,’ Armitage swallowed, free hand placed firmly over his chest, his racing heart. ‘Of course I will.’


	4. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armitage is not used to allowing himself to be unwell, Kylo hopes to change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again this fic isn't set in any sort of chronological order, I imagine this chapter to be kinda early on in their relationship.

‘What did I tell you? You need to get back in bed!’

‘No I don’t! I’m alright, dear,’ Armitage sniffled, holding on to the kitchen doorframe for support. ‘Please believe me. I don’t need to stay in bed. I can help you with the chores before dinner. You shouldn’t have to do it all by yourself-- ’

His protest seemed to aggravate the rough sensation in his throat then, and he found himself suddenly cut off by a bout of coughing and spluttering.

‘You’re unwell, pudding,’ Kylo sighed, clicking his fingers to produce a glass of water. The glass levitated over to the doorway, and Armitage grasped at it, glugging half of it down immediately to ease his discomfort.

‘It’s just my throat, that’s all!’

This was of course, a lie. In fact, it would be an understatement to say that Armitage felt just a little unwell -- his body ached all over, a dull pain that felt as if it had somehow managed to creep into his bones. This would have been unpleasant enough, he thought, but on top of that he was now experiencing the misery of a splitting headache and a sore stomach. Not to mention the tooth-chattering chills that had begun to creep in earlier in the afternoon, despite the usually enveloping warmth of their cottage.

‘You’re burning up,’ Kylo tutted, walking over to the doorframe and placing a hand to Armitage’s forehead.

‘I can’t be,’ he protested, pulling away. ‘I’m freezing, in fact.’

‘Well of course _you_ feel cold, you’re sick.’

There was something about Kylo’s sympathetic gaze Armitage was finding particularly hard to handle. He didn’t like being told he was sick, even though he very obviously was.

Back during his old life in the city, feeling unwell was pretty much a taboo subject. As a child, his father would not tolerate any such notion of his son being too sick to attend school. Even if he’d been ill during the holidays, he’d still have been forced to pull himself up out of bed, get dressed, and get on with the day no matter what. Armitage had taken this set of harsh rules on board into adulthood. Not once had he allowed himself to take a sick day, even if it had at times meant dragging himself into the office, verging on the point of delirium. Back then, being sick enough to allow himself to rest simply wasn’t open for discussion.

Perhaps that was why he was struggling with the concept of doing so now.

‘Can’t you just…cast a spell or something? Work your magic and make me better?’ Armitage huffed.

‘It doesn’t work quite like that unfortunately, sweetheart,’ Kylo shook his head apologetically. ‘My healing powers aren’t that strong. But if you’d just stop being so _stubborn_ and let me actually look after you, I’m sure I could help you heal in no time.’

He took hold of Armitage’s hands.

‘Now, are you going to stop sulking and admit you need to rest?’

Armitage rolled his eyes. ‘But I don’t need to! I never needed to back in the city—‘

‘Not to be rude, Armitage,’ Kylo cut him off, ‘but I really don’t think you should use your life in the city as an example for…well,_ anything_ with regards to your wellbeing.’

He blushed at Kylo’s use of his full name, not knowing quite how to respond. He suddenly felt as if he were in trouble and being gently scolded for his obstinacy. Perhaps the other man had a point though, between the stress and the physical and mental self-neglect back in the city, Armitage hadn’t exactly felt his best. Sometimes it even frightened him to think of what could have been if that had gone on much longer. Most days, he felt grateful that Kylo had found him and rescued him from that terrible life several months ago. He tried to remind himself that, really, he was being looked after on a daily basis anyway. Kylo cooked all his meals for him and dedicated a great deal of time to making sure Armitage felt as safe, loved and happy as possible; did it really matter if he was just a little less capable of helping himself than usual?

‘Am I going to have to put you to bed myself?’ Kylo squeezed his hands gently. Armitage found himself relenting slightly as he looked back at the other man’s warm expression.

‘I think you may have to,’ he sighed, allowing Kylo to slip past himself and the doorframe and lead him through the hall.

Once they reached the bedroom, Kylo fetched some fresh pajamas from the closet and laid them out against the marshmallow mattress for Armitage to change into. He hadn’t seen them before, a soft fluffy set in a deep royal blue tone. They looked incredibly warm.

‘When did you make these?’ Armitage asked.

‘Earlier, back when you_ told_ me you were going to get in bed and wait for me to make your dinner for you,’ Kylo raised his eyebrows, mimicking an authoritative tone.

Armitage chuckled, about to respond, before he suddenly felt a particularly sharp ache shoot through his belly. He groaned in agony, wrapping his arms around his plump middle.

‘Armie, are you OK?’ There was a considerable note of concern in Kylo’s voice then as he reached out and pulled him into his arms. He walked Armitage over to the edge of the bed and sat him down, supporting him with one arm while the other arm rubbed gentle circles against his back.

‘My stomach just hurts a little,’ Armitage whimpered despite himself, hands still clutched against the centre of his stomach, gulping back the pain after a brief moment.

‘It looks like it hurts more than just a little,’ Kylo sighed. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘Because you were trying to make me stay in bed as it was. Besides, you already seemed so worried. I didn’t want to stress you out even more…’

‘Well that won’t do, please don’t go hiding things because you’re worried about _me_,’ Kylo shook his head. ‘And I_ am_ going to make you stay in bed. Once I know you’re resting I can try making something to help with the pain. Now, let’s get you into these, shall we?’

With a wave of Kylo’s hand, Armitage’s outfit transformed, his sweater and pants replaced with the warm royal blue pajamas that had been laid out against the bed moments before, replaced now by his previous outfit, already clean and neatly folded. Despite his resistance to actually getting back in bed, he had to admit his new outfit felt extra warm and soft against his currently very sensitive skin.

‘Do they feel OK? Are they warm enough?’ Kylo asked, apprehensive.

‘Yes, thank you dear.’ Armitage sniffled. ‘They’re perfect.’

He tried his best to smile through the discomfort, but judging by the still somewhat fretful expression on Kylo’s face, he wasn’t doing a great job.

Gently, Kylo helped to guide him down against the marshmallow mattress, wrapping a blanket around him. As he did so, Armitage’s winced slightly as a fresh wave of dull pain seemed to pulsate through his bones.

‘Oh, this doesn’t feel good at all,’ he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and grimacing. He felt Kylo’s lips press against his chubby cheek and a reassuring hand rubbing his shoulder then, reopening his eyes to Kylo’s furrowed brows and worried gaze. _There it was again, that look of pity on his face._ In the back of his mind, Armitage still couldn’t quite understand why Kylo wasn’t barking orders at him, demanding he got up immediately so he could do twice as many chores as normal, all for the trouble of even daring to be visibly unwell. But Kylo wasn’t his father. He had to remind himself of that. Just because he’d grown up believing every cruel, spiteful word the man had aimed at him, didn’t necessarily make it true. Kylo was slowly helping him to see that, but some things were easier to shake than others.

‘Don’t worry, I’m going to make you something to help you feel better,’ Kylo smiled, obviously trying to perk up for his benefit, getting up from the bed and heading for the hall. He turned back just before leaving the room. ‘And in the meantime I better not hear those floorboards creaking. You are not to try and get back out of bed, understand?’

‘Yes, alright, alright. I understand,’ Armitage sighed, rolling his eyes, although he couldn’t help but smirk slightly at Kylo’s bossy tone.

He watched as Kylo left the room and tried to settle into the comforting warmth of the bed, trying to distract himself from the pain. His stomach had other ideas, however, sending him another particularly unpleasant pulse of discomfort soon after. He let out another involuntary whimper, bringing a hand to his middle and rubbing it as gently as possible. And something about that noise made him painfully hyperaware of his current predicament. _Oh, _he shuddered to think what his past self would say if he could see himself tucked up in bed in the middle of the afternoon over something as _ridiculous _as a common cold_._ Armitage felt a brief pang of self-doubt despite everything then, feeling a sudden urge to haul himself out of bed and stop being so weak and pathetic. He made a move to pull the blanket he’d been cocooned within away and get up, before he remembered Kylo’s firm warning. He sighed, sinking back into the warmth of the covers and sulking.

‘Did I just see what I think I did?’ Kylo’s voice made him jolt in surprise then. He was standing in the doorway now, eyebrows raised and a hot mug of something in his hand.

‘I have no idea what you’re referring to. I was just getting comfortable!’

‘Being sick isn’t a failure, you know, pudding,’ Kylo teased, setting the mug in his hand down on the bedside table before climbing back onto the bed next to him. Armitage eased himself into sitting up slightly, as Kylo rearranged the blankets and positioned the cotton candy filled pillows around his back to support him. Armitage felt like some sort of useless, floppy ragdoll, feeling his cheeks burn a little as Kylo arranged him into position. Once he was done with this, Kylo leaned across to collect the mug from the side and placed it into Armitage’s still shivering hands. ‘Here, take a sip of this.’

‘What is it?’ he asked, looking down at the dark contents of the mug. It had a sweet, aromatic scent, and perhaps he was just feverish, but he could have sworn he was witnessing the drink’s color changing back and forth between a sequence of dark purple, red and blue hues.

‘It’s the closest I can get to a magic healing formula,’ Kylo explained. ‘It’ll alleviate some of your symptoms temporarily, but you’ll still need lots of rest.’

Armitage resisted the urge to bring up the existence of cold and flu medicine back in the human world, finding it sweet that Kylo had at least made the effort to heal him as best as he could. His magic was so powerful in other areas, after all, he couldn’t exactly be the best at everything.

‘Thank you, Kylo, you’re too kind to me,’ he smiled, taking a sip of the drink. It was a perfect blend of sweet and herbal, and something else he couldn’t quite pick up on. Some sort of spice – cinnamon, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was delicious, and a considerable improvement upon any of its human world equivalents. By the time he’d finished the whole mug, Armitage was thankful to feel his headache already diminishing somewhat, the aches and pains in his joints becoming that little bit more bearable, and his throat a little less scratchy.

‘How are you feeling now, any better?’ Kylo asked, bundling him up in the blanket loosely resting around his shoulders and gingerly scooting Armitage up next to him. He wrapped an arm around him and pushed a couple of loose strands of red hair away from face, placing the back of his hand against Armitage’s forehead. ‘Your temperature seems to be going down at least.’

‘A little,’ Armitage admitted, although his hand had managed to subconsciously travel back to his belly. Unlike the rest of his symptoms, the pain hadn’t really been reduced at all in that area.

‘Is your stomach still hurting you?’ Kylo asked. ‘Here, let me help with that. Lie back down.’

Admitting defeat, he shifted himself back into the warm sea of blankets and pillows. Kylo lay down beside him, nuzzling into his soft shoulder, hands travelling down to tug at his pajama top, peeling it up to expose the round, chubby expanse of his middle. The sudden draft of cold air prickled against Armitage’s skin, causing him to shudder slightly. He was certainly thankful for the feel of Kylo’s warm palm spreading against the soft flesh moments later, letting out a hum of appreciation. Armitage began to relax a little as he felt the gentle ministrations against his belly, the soothing feel of Kylo’s other hand running through his hair. They lay in a peaceful silence with the exception of Kylo occasionally shushing him and reassuring him whenever he squirmed in discomfort until gradually, Armitage felt the pain in his stomach begin to subside. After a while, he started to feel himself sinking deeper into the warmth of the bed, his whole body feeling increasingly heavier than it already was with every minute that passed by.

‘I’m going to get started on dinner now, sweetheart,’ Kylo told him softly after some time, planting a kiss against his forehead. ‘I love you. Now _stay in bed._’

‘Just try and stop me,’ Armitage murmured, sleepily. ‘I love you too, dear.’

He yawned, feeling his eyelids grow heavy along with the rest of him, finally feeling completely comfortable with the idea of permitting himself to relax. What did it matter if he took a couple days to rest now he had someone as kind and wonderful as Kylo to look after him? Armitage sighed happily then, and allowed himself to drift off into a warm, blissful sleep.


	5. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whilst Kylo is out, Armitage decides to surprise Kylo with some baking of his own. Things don't exactly go to plan...

Armitage watched through the gaps in the enchanted icing frost covered windows until Kylo’s silhouette had disappeared fully into the shrouds of the tall pine trees in the distance. Normally, he’d have been happy to accompany his husband to the woodland fae market to gather supplies, but with the recent heavy snowfall, they’d both decided it was best he stay at home this week. It was perhaps one of the few downsides of becoming so much fatter since he’d started living with Kylo, sometimes the longer distances and extreme weather did prevent him from being able to join in. Normally, Armitage would have been quite upset to have to stay at home and miss out, but today was different. Today he was excited.

Moving away from the window, he walked over to the small stand of cookbooks on the kitchen counter, running a chubby finger across the tatty, well-used spines until he stopped on a large red book with shimmering gold lettering that simply read ‘Recipes’. He pulled it out of the stand and lay it out on the counter, flicking through the pages until he found what he was looking for. He smiled as he looked over the recipe, surprised how relatively easy it seemed. He’d never made gingerbread cookies before, but the ingredients and baking instructions seemed rather straight forward. After all, if he’d been capable of designing entire, elaborate building structures back in his old life, he was fairly sure he could bake a couple of batches of gingerbread cookies. The only ingredient that seemed unusual was some sort of dark root spice he was fairly sure was non-existent in the human world, although he’d seen it in Kylo’s spice rack before. He shrugged to himself. Perhaps it was the secret ingredient that made his husband’s baking so delicious.

Armitage had planned a whole day of baking and cooking in the hours that his husband was away. Based on their usual trips to the fae market, he’d been able to roughly estimate how long he’d have to prepare everything in time for Kylo’s return home, with a little time to spare in case anything shouldn’t go to plan. He couldn’t wait to surprise him when he got in with a full, home cooked meal with dessert and several batches of cookies to enjoy afterward. Kylo spent so much time doting on him and making elaborate dinners and treats for him on a daily basis, Armitage thought it only right he use this time to do something thoughtful for him.

Back in his old life, Armitage had never really been shown how to cook, and so he’d decided on a simple casserole recipe for the main and a berry pie for dessert. He’d made the decision to start with his complimentary gingerbread cookies first, however, as in all honesty they seemed the most fun. And _maybe _there was a part of him that wanted to have something to snack on until dinner was ready.

He set about gathering the ingredients from the cupboards, setting them out on the counter and looking over to the recipe for guidance. He followed each step methodically, managing to get the consistency of the mixture perfect the first time round. Armitage smiled to himself as he rolled the dough out on the counter, walking over to the drawer containing the cookie cutters and sorting through them to pick which shapes he wanted to cut his cookies into. He settled upon a mixture of people shapes and heart shapes. With all the icing pens he’d discovered in the same drawer, he decided he would decorate all of the people shaped cookies as himself and Kylo, and the heart shapes, well…they were self-explanatory.

_When had he become so soft? _ He laughed to himself, imagining his previously cold and callous self somehow bearing witness to this current scene as he finished cutting his cookies into their shapes. He greased one of the baking trays, before placing them in the oven and setting the timer. He’d put his second, pre-made batch in once they were done.

As the cookies baked and the sweet smell of cinnamon and ginger filled the air, Armitage decided he’d set the table early, feeling too excited to wait. He covered the table with a white satin table cloth, embroidered with tiny silver snowflakes that quite literally danced around the material. It was one of his favorite enchanted tablecloths Kylo had brought back from the market. He set out his favorite glassware and cutlery, before finally laying the table with the new hue-changing plates they had yet to use. The final result looked somewhat mismatched and strange, but Armitage was pleased with it anyway. It reminded him of Kylo and himself.

After checking the timer on the oven, Armitage decided he had long enough to get changed. He left the kitchen, walking the short length down the hall to their bedroom. He opened their closet, and looked over to his side. Despite the range of magical outfits Kylo could produce for him at the click of a finger, Armitage still had a few items of clothing he loved so much he liked to be able to physically keep them within their closet. He looked over his options, wanting to look his best for when Kylo returned home. After a moment, he decided upon a sweater-vest and gray slacks combination -- one of his favorite outfits. He was thankful for the magically adjusting apron Kylo had made for him, this way he could still wear his outfit without worrying about ruining it during the cooking process. He heard the ping of the timer from the next room then, and made his way back to the kitchen.

Slipping on a pair of oven gloves, Armitage pulled the first batch out of the oven and carefully placed them on one of the magical hue-changing plates. He set them down in the middle of the table to cool, before placing the second batch in the oven and re-setting the timer. He took a breath. _How did Kylo manage all of this every single day? _Having taken so much time away from his previously demanding and busy life, he was finding this whole process a little exhausting.

The smell of the freshly baked gingerbread cookies distracted him then, and he eyed them sitting undecorated on the table. He realized he should probably add the icing to them now, that would be a good way to fill his time before the second batch was out. Yes, he should almost definitely do that. _But maybe first he should taste one of them. _Just to make sure they were OK, of course. There’d be no sense in decorating them all if they didn’t taste right. Besides, he reasoned, he’d earned a short rest.

He took a seat at one of the kitchen chairs, thankful to get off his feet for a minute. He held a hand out over the cookies, fingers wriggling in the air briefly as he tried to decide which cookie he’d like to try. He decided upon a heart shaped one, not wanting to spoil any of the gingerbread men he’d made for himself and Kylo. He took a bite, and was pleasantly greeted with a warm, soft texture and delicious tasting mix of sugar and spice. It was absolutely delightful, and although Armitage had promised he’d savor every bite slowly, he couldn’t help but gobble it down in several bites. He wiped the crumbs away from his mouth and looked back at the plate longingly._ Just one more couldn’t hurt, surely._

‘Just one more’ ultimately ended up being _just five_ more, but at least he’d managed to spare the gingerbread men in favor of the hearts. Armitage leaned back with his eyes shut, satisfied. It didn’t matter too much that he’d scoffed half of the first batch, he supposed, at least he had another one cooking. He realized then that the excitement he was feeling about suprising Kylo was giving him proverbial butterflies in his stomach. At least, that’s what he thought at first. It wasn’t until the tingling, fluttering sensation became a little more intense that he opened his eyes and sat up, frowning slightly in confusion. And that was when he began to feel that vaguely familiar pressure in his stomach, his waistband suddenly feeling just a little tighter than it had just moments before.

_‘Oh…no…’ _

It was at this moment that Armitage realized, all too late, what that strange black root spice must have been used for. He hadn’t just baked a batch of gingerbread cookies, he’d baked a batch of _enchanted _gingerbread cookies, and by the looks of his now expanding body, they were the very same that Kylo had fed him the first day they met.

Armitage gasped as he felt his already large belly bump into the edge of the table, pushing the legs of his chair back slightly as it grew, the buttons of his sweater-vest straining to hold around his torso as his chest joined in, softening and expanding along with the rest of him. He watched in dismay as his already thick thighs began to fill out and push over the sides of the chair, and judging by the feel of his voluptuous backside pressing against the back of the seat, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t have been able to get up if he tried. Not that it would have made any difference. Kylo wasn’t here, and there seemed to be nothing he could do to stop this. He supposed he should have been grateful for the fact Kylo had enchanted the chairs to be able to withstand any weight a while back once he’d first become tubby.

It was then, in horror, that Armitage remembered he hadn’t even _measured_ how much of the mysterious spice he’d put in. The recipe hadn’t specified a measurement, so he’d been left to make a completely uneducated leap of faith with how much he put in. Seeing as he knew now what it was for, it made sense that it was left ambiguous, a sort of baker’s choice on how fat whoever consumed the finished result would get

A sudden, percussive _ping_ startled him then, as he realized one of the brass buttons of his sweater vest had popped off and sprung across the table to hit one of the wine glasses opposite him. And Armitage had very little time to process this before it was followed by another, and then another. Minutes later, the entire vest had been destroyed, along with his shirt, a sea of buttons discarded around the table now. His slacks had been the last to go, quite literally bursting off him and leaving a pile of tattered material on the floor. By this point, Armitage was beyond terrified, wondering whether or not it may actually be possible to burst from being so huge. 

Mercifully, just as the timer on the oven pinged, it stopped, and Armitage breathed a sigh of relief. But it was short lived. He looked over his enormous belly as best he could to view the table. The spread he’d set out was ruined -glasses knocked over and plates shattered by the rain of flying buttons. He looked down at himself, and his tattered clothes, his favorite outfit was ruined too. He was fairly sure he was about twice his usual size, and since he was now wedged into his seat, all he could do was stare back at the mess he’d made of himself and his surprise for Kylo in regret. Armitage felt a lump rising in his throat, tears burning in his eyes. It was all _ruined_ because of him. He couldn’t do anything right, he never had been able to.

Before he could stop himself, he’d burst into tears, bringing his chubby hands to his face and sobbing into them miserably. All he’d wanted was to do something nice for his lovely husband, who cared about him so much and did this sort of thing for him _every day_, and he couldn’t even manage to do that! His father had been right, he really was completely useless.

And Armitage was so distracted by his disappointed tears, he didn’t hear the sound of the candy cane gate outside opening and closing, or the trudging, heavy-footed steps towards the front door of their cottage. In fact, it wasn’t until the door opened that he finally took his hands away from his face to look up and see his husband standing in the doorway, cloak and hat covered in snow, and a worried look on his face.

‘…Armie?! Are you alright? What on earth happened?’ Kylo gasped, looking over the scene before him before throwing his empty basket down and rushing over to him. He kneeled down beside him, a hand against what probably should have been his shoulder.

‘Kylo…why are you back so soon?!’ Armitage blushed, wishing he could move to hide himself. He felt ridiculous, and he didn’t want to have to explain his foolish mistake. He wiped the remaining tears away from his face.

‘The weather was too harsh. Turns out the market was cancelled this week. _Armie,_ how did this happen?’

‘I…I wanted to surprise you,’ he sniffed. ‘It went wrong, I’m sorry.’

Kylo looked over to the table then, noticed the remaining cookies, the set table.

‘Oh sweetheart, you used one of my magic cookbooks, didn’t you?’

‘I didn’t realize. I had a whole meal planned out for us, but then I tried one of the cookies I’d made and I…I…’ his voice hitched and he swallowed. ‘Everything’s just ruined now. I’m so sorry, Kylo. I really wanted to do something nice for you!’

He felt several rogue tears escape his eyes then, but this time it was Kylo who caught them as they rolled down his cheeks.

‘Don’t worry about it, pudding,’ Kylo smiled, standing up. ‘Nothing’s ruined at all. Look!’

With a wave of his hand, the discarded buttons of Armitage’s clothes vanished, the broken plates and glasses piecing themselves back together, and within seconds, Armitage felt himself warm up once again as a much larger version of his favorite outfit formed over his body.

‘Now, let’s see what you’ve got planned for us, shall we?’ Kylo walked over to the open recipe books on the counter. ‘Beef casserole and berry pie? That sounds wonderful, Armie.’

‘Well, I can’t make it now, can I?’ Armitage sulked. ‘Look at me, I can’t even get out of this damned chair!’

‘No I suppose not,’ Kylo chuckled, walking back over to him. ‘Fortunately, the recipe you made is only temporary. You’ll be back to normal in a few hours. Anyway, now I’m back, we can make dinner together. You’ve already got it started by setting the table so beautifully and picking out our menu.’

He leaned down and planted a kiss against his chubby cheek.

Armitage smiled, relieved his mistake had not left any permanent effects. Now he knew the changes to his body were only temporary, maybe he could enjoy the novelty for a few hours, being this big and round was a very strange yet interesting experience, after all, even for him.

Once he knew his husband was at ease, Kylo de-enchanted the second batch of cookies and brought the icing pens over to where he sat. While Kylo cooked up their casserole and pie, Armitage got to work decorating the cookies, using the huge shelf of his temporary belly to balance the plate and his decorative materials. Kylo spent most of the afternoon whilst he cooked regaling his own personal and numerous failed attempts at magic and baking, and by the end they were both in fits of laughter. Maybe it wasn’t the worst mistake in the world, Armitage decided, after hearing Kylo’s disastrous story of the time he’d accidentally turned his entire family into frogs with a misread chocolate cake recipe.

By the time their main was ready, he’d just about shrunk back down to his normal, albeit still very rotund physique, his outfit thankfully shrinking along with his body. Kylo planted another kiss against his cheek as he set their first course down in front of him, and Armitage felt his heart warm as he realized everything had, somehow, still managed to go to plan.

‘Thank you for my surprise, pudding,’ Kylo smiled. ‘I love it.’


	6. City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Armitage take a trip back to the city that caused Armitage so much pain in his old life back in the human world in order to make new, more positive memories. Unfortunately, they encounter Armitage's old boss, Enric Pryde...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for fat shaming.

It had been a long time since Armitage had stepped foot in the city. In fact, by recollection it had been almost a year to the day. Kylo was glad to be the one accompanying him. He’d suggested the trip several weeks ago, and had been pleasantly surprised by his husband’s enthusiasm for the idea. Ever since the first day he’d met Armitage, he’d known of his terrible old life back in the city, the stress it had caused him, and the poor emotional and physical state it’d left him in. Kylo didn’t want every single memory Armitage had of this place to hold that sort of power over him, and so, this weekend was about making new memories. Happier memories, together.

Their first stop had been The First Order building, a ninety floor construct at the heart of the city used primarily for business which was also open to the public. It was, incidentally, one of the first structures Armitage had helped to design. Kylo knew that Armitage had a lifelong fear of heights and had never actually ventured to the glass floor of the building’s highest point to witness the view he’d created. Today, however, he’d managed to convince his husband to do so.

They’d taken the elevator, of course. Being the fitness fanatic that he was, Kylo would have probably attempted the towering mountain of stairs had he been alone, but he needed to take his husband’s comfort into account. Since he’d become so much bigger, Armitage struggled with long flights of stairs, not that this was ever a problem for him in their bungalow home out in the woods. In their everyday life, Armitage’s new size was not an issue and Kylo would have hated it to impact their day out.

Armitage seemed very uneasy as they first set foot on the top floor. Every motion he made seemed hesitant at first, and there had been a tremble in his voice, despite his efforts to hide it. Kylo knew he felt nervous, and after a few minutes, his guiding hand against Armitage’s back and a few reassuring squeezes of his upper arm seemed to calm his fears.

‘It’s not what I would have expected,’ Armitage remarked, as they looked out on the city below.

‘Oh? In what way?’

‘I’d imagined it taller. More intimidating, maybe. The designs always made it seem so,’ he shrugged.

They were standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top floor now, staring over the majority of the city’s immense structures and looking down upon the heavily populated roads and sidewalks, the tiny specks that were the vehicles and citizens below. To Kylo, it was a fascinating and unusual sight, and he found it strange that this world had been Armitage’s reality for so many years.

‘I can’t believe you designed this view,’ Kylo smiled, leaning in and planting a kiss against his husband’s cheek. ‘It’s amazing. I knew you were talented at this sort of thing but it’s another thing to see it.’

Armitage smiled back, but Kylo noted the slight frown and the sadness in his eyes.

‘Everything OK, sweetheart?’

‘Yes, dear, I’m fine,’ Armitage swallowed, gaze still fixed upon the view below. ‘I just…I suppose seeing this city from so high above really reminds me how trapped it made me feel. You know, towards the end.’

They left shortly after, Kylo not wanting to bring up anything that would further upset him. After all, they’d both agreed that today was not about reliving the past, it was about reclaiming it.

Their next stop had been the public park area and despite Kylo’s reservations about the city, he had to admit it was a rather beautiful place. It didn’t feel like the city, and the vast stretch of green grass surrounded by tall trees would have reminded him of home if it hadn’t been for the scattered groups of decidedly abrasive humans hollering to one another and the various fast-food stands. One of these stands in particular, however, Armitage was very insistent they visit.

‘I remember thinking this place did the best ice cream in the city,’ Armitage beamed, waddling back from the ice cream truck and sitting down at the bench next to Kylo, two large soft scoop cones in one hand and a holder of two coffee cups in the other. He passed a cone and cup over to him. ‘Yours is better, of course.’

They sat watching the array of humans, some playing catch with their dogs, others laid out on blankets enjoying picnics just as the two of them did regularly in the forest, there was even an odd few couples sat on nearby benches enjoying their own ice creams from the truck. Kylo wasn’t sure what exactly he’d expected from his visit to the human world, but he was surprised how familiar some of it seemed to be.

‘I like this place,’ Kylo admitted, taking a sip of the coffee Armitage had ordered and immediately wanting to retract his comment. ‘Oh, no. Pudding, what is this?!’

Armitage seemed bewildered, raising his eyebrows. ‘Coffee?’

‘This does _not _taste like coffee!’

Armitage laughed. ‘We like it strong in the city. I used to live off this stuff. In fact, I think I used to drink it largely in place of eating.’

‘Well, that would explain a lot! It’s no wonder you were so skinny when we met!’

‘Hey! You told me you wanted to know what the city was like for me before,’ Armitage grinned.

Kylo took in the sweet smile on his husband’s face, he looked so happy, it was a joy to finally see him so content in this place, the city that had very nearly driven him mad.

Once they were finished at the park, they decided to take a detour to the local market. Armitage had made them dinner reservations at one of his old favorite restaurants, but they had an hour to kill until then. They spent a while browsing before Kylo noticed his husband’s gaze fix upon a snow globe on one of the miscellaneous stands. He knew how much snow globes meant to Armitage, his mother had collected them, and when Armitage had still lived with her, there had been a large collection of them in his family home. Kylo waited until Armitage was preoccupied by a nearby cake stall before he’d purchased one for him, hiding it in the pocket of his cloak to surprise him later on.

________

The restaurant Armitage had picked was unlike anything Kylo had ever seen before. From the elaborate high ceiling, the intricately unique details of everything from the layout, furniture, even the menu designs—it was easy to see why he’d picked the place. Even back in their humble cottage in the woods, it was clear to him that Armitage enjoyed stylish and aesthetically pleasing things. After all, Armitage’s love of designing miniature model towns and fashion was a part of their everyday life he’d taken straight from the city.

Once they were seated at their table, it truly felt like their day together had made a real difference to Armitage’s perception of the city, the place he’d once felt so caged within. Now, as he watched his husband sitting across from him, smiling as he browsed through the menu, it seemed as if he finally felt free in this environment. It warmed Kylo’s heart.

‘Are you enjoying yourself, pudding?’ he asked, reaching a hand across the table to grasp hold of Armitage’s hand.

Armitage looked up from his menu. ‘Of course I am, dear. I’m having a lovely time, thank you for insisting I come back here.’

With his free hand, Kylo reached into his pocket, hand clasped around the snow globe. Seeing how happy he was right now, he knew this would be the best possible moment to present it to him.

‘_Armitage Hux?! Is that you?!’_

Kylo froze at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, taking his hand out of his pocket and looking up to see a hard-faced and fully suited gray haired man standing before their table.

‘Armitage?’ Kylo whispered.

‘I knew it! It_ is_ you!’ the gray haired man cackled, glancing across to Kylo finally, holding out his hand. ‘Enric Pryde, former senior co-worker of your friend here, and you are…?’

Kylo stared blankly at the man’s outstretched hand, realizing suddenly who exactly he was speaking to. He knew very well from Armitage’s stories of his past that Enric Pryde had not just been his ‘senior co-worker’. Pryde had been Armitage’s boss, a tyrannical man who overworked his staff and had not for one second taken his employee’s needs and feelings into account. In fact, this man had been a significant factor in his husband’s physical and mental decline whilst he was still in his architectural career, on several instances going so far as to directly laugh in his face when he witnessed Armitage in distress at work. In addition to this, Kylo also knew that Pryde had been very good friends with Armitage’s father.

And suddenly, everything Armitage had ever told him about his miserable life in the city seemed to make that little bit more sense. 

‘I’m Armitage’s husband,’ Kylo replied, making no effort to grasp Pryde’s hand.

‘Well, then, I assume your husband has already given you his sob story as to why he ran away and disappeared from the company,’ Pryde snarled, retracting his hand, his expression stiffening, the moment of pause Kylo and Armitage had taken had clearly been enough to reveal whatever thinly veiled pretence of amicability Pryde had been attempting for what it really was.

‘He has,’ Kylo replied, his own gaze fixed unwaveringly upon the man before him. ‘He’s told me an awful lot about you in particular, actually.’

Pryde laughed. ‘Oh I’m sure he has. You always were a bit of a snitch, weren’t you Armitage? Running to HR the minute I made you cry.’

‘I didn’t do that,’ Armitage muttered, eyes still drawn down to the table, voice small and suddenly seeming so unsure of himself it almost broke Kylo’s heart.

‘Of course you didn’t,’ Pryde sneered. ‘Well, glad to see you’re still alive. Although, judging by the size of you now, I wonder how much longer you will be.’

Pryde burst out into a malicious cackle, and Armitage must have sensed Kylo’s impulse to wave his hand and cast a devastating spell on him there and then, squeezing his hand a little too tight. Kylo looked back at his husband’s face, seeing the pain etched into his expression.

He turned back to Pryde. ‘Don’t you dare speak about my husband that way.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Please, don’t be offended, I was only joking. It’s just…well, it seems you’ve certainly got over whatever issue you had with eating, doesn’t it Armitage? I mean, you used to look like a skeleton in a suit, but now…’

‘If you don’t mind,’ Kylo cut him off, voice little more than a low growl, ‘we were trying to enjoy a meal together.’

‘Yes, yes, of course, my apologies,’ Pryde held his hands up, smirk still present on his face. ‘I must dash anyway. Big night for me, holiday party in the penthouse suite of the Zektor building. Do you remember those, Armitage? Important business people, connections to be made…ah, I’m sure none of that concerns you now. Anyway, so good to see you. Congratulations on your…_marriage_.’

Pryde left cackling, and Kylo’s attention immediately turned to Armitage, whose happy expression prior to the encounter had dropped into a miserable downward stare, his cheeks bright red, a reluctant swell of tears in his eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, pudding, are you OK?’ he whispered, squeezing Armitage’s trembling hand.

Armitage straightened himself up then, clearing his throat and very obviously trying his best to pretend he was OK. He smiled back at Kylo.

‘Yes, dear, I’m fine.’

Kylo really wanted to believe that was true. But it was difficult to once it came around to ordering and he had to watch Armitage pick through a salad he’d ordered, refusing both starters and dessert.

________

Back in the hotel, Armitage had been strangely quiet. It was clear to Kylo he’d been trying his best to keep a smile on his face for his sake. Even when Kylo had tried to speak about the incident, Armitage had disregarded it as a small, insignificant blip in their day. After a while, Kylo tried to accept it. They’d settled down in bed and he’d enjoyed the novelty of cuddling with his husband and watching television, a comfort that was almost entirely exclusive to the human world. It wasn’t until Armitage had got up to get a shower and he’d heard sobbing behind the closed door that Kylo realized just how much the event earlier had got to him.

It was at that point Kylo decided he was going to visit the Zektor building.

________

He’d left the hotel once Armitage was asleep.

Kylo hadn’t bothered with a full disguise for the party, simply using his magic to place himself in a sharp looking business suit and style his hair accordingly. He blended right in with the crowd at the penthouse suite of the Zektor building, and he found no one so much as glanced in his direction as he made his way through the swarms of people, Christmas music and loud chatter dominating the atmosphere as he searched for his target.

Finally, in an empty stretch of office cubicles, he found Pryde, mid-way through the failed chat up of a woman who very quickly informed him she would not be interested in him ‘even if he was the last man on Earth’ before walking away to join the rest of the party.

‘Stupid bitch,’ Pryde muttered to himself. ‘Who does she think she is?’

‘Maybe the question is more, who do you think _you_ are?’ Kylo replied, emerging from his hiding place, walking out into the open to face Pryde.

Pryde’s eyes widened in shock.

‘_You?!_ What the hell are you doing here?’ he spat.

‘I didn’t like how you spoke to my husband earlier,’ Kylo sighed, approaching Pryde. ‘You hurt him. Not that it would be anything new to you. You’d been hurting him for years, hadn’t you? You nearly drove him mad.’

‘Well,’ Pryde sneered, ‘perhaps if that fat mess you call your husband knew how to actually _manage _his stress, he wouldn’t have ended up feeling the way he did in the first place!’

Kylo scoffed, reaching into his pocket then and retrieving the snow globe he’d bought for Armitage earlier that day.

‘It wouldn’t have mattered what he did,’ Kylo snarled. ‘And you know that. You hated him from the very start, your mind was poisoned by his father. You just wanted to see him break, didn’t you? You didn’t care how trapped he felt.’

Pryde laughed then. ‘And why would I have cared? Armitage Hux was, is, and always will be, a useless waste of space. Hell, the only reason I even entertained the idea of him being part of the company was because I respected his father, a man that actually knew how to make things happen!’

Kylo narrowed his eyes, one hand held over the snow globe then, feeling the magic building at the tips of his fingers as he made contact with it.

‘Well, perhaps Armitage’s shitty father and I had a few things in common then. You see, I also know how to make things happen, and like you, I suppose I also have a special gift for making people feel _trapped_.’

It was then that a sudden surge of light and energy blasted through the top floor of the Zektor building, so brief and quiet that not a single human noticed.

________

Kylo was already dressed and awake when Armitage awoke the next morning,

‘Morning, pudding,’ Kylo beamed. ‘I’ve ordered us some breakfast, room service, is it? I think that’s what they call it.’

Armitage emerged from the covers, sitting up in bed, a smile on his face.

‘Yes, dear, room service. That’s very sweet of you.’

Kylo reached into the pocket of his cloak then, retrieving the snow globe.

‘I have a gift for you.’

‘Really?’ Armitage asked as Kylo climbed onto the bed to join him, curling up next to him. Kylo opened his palm to reveal the snow glove, glistening with an array of pink, blue and white hues.

‘Oh! It’s beautiful,’ Armitage beamed, leaning in to Kylo and planting a kiss against his cheek. ‘How thoughtful of you, dear.’

Kylo watched as Armitage examined the globe, turning it from side to side and watching the flecks of glitter snow fall back and forth.

‘Darling…is it just me, or does this model person inside the snow globe look a little bit like…’

‘Pryde?’ Kylo finished his sentence.

Armitage paused, placing the snow globe down against the nightstand then.

‘Kylo… did you...’

Kylo grinned, and Armitage gasped, clasping his hands over his mouth momentarily, before a stifled laugh betrayed him.

Armitage’s hands flopped down to his lap eventually, and Kylo took hold of them, looking into his husband’s eyes.

‘I told you I would never let the city harm you again, pudding,’ he smiled. ‘I love you. Now, let’s enjoy our breakfast!’

And they did, Kylo and Armitage never feeling happier, as Armitage’s new snow globe sat perched on the nightstand, its contents trapped inside it forever.


	7. Fox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deep in the enchanted forest, Armitage is reunited with the spirit of his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sort of alternative take on the original premise of how Hux and Kylo meet in the witch AU. Instead of a kidnapping, the two meet through different circumstances, although all of Hux's backstory from the city still applies.
> 
> Thank you so much to my witch au friends who helped me write this with all their amazing ideas and support, I love you guys <3

As dusk settled, in the heart of the snow covered woods, a little fox with a sleek white coat and emerald green eyes padded through the snow. It searched through the frosted trees with a sense of urgency, pace quickening to a sprint as it finally caught on to the scent. It ran and ran, gaining speed the further it went, until it reached a small, dimly lit clearing amongst the trees. There, in the middle of the opening, already half covered in snow and frost, lay the body of a pale and emaciated redheaded man. The man was face down to the ground and unconscious, and the little fox had unfortunately found exactly what it’d expected to. It approached the body cautiously, resting its soft head against the man’s shoulder and nuzzling his cold face. It was then that it detected a heartbeat, and as much as it would have liked to stay, the fox knew it didn’t have much time. It raised its head, reluctantly turning away from the successful find and scanning the forest for the nearest sentient lifeform. Within seconds, it detected another, very powerful being nearby. It gave one last, pained glance towards the figure in the snow, before dashing forward in search of the nearby lifeform. It couldn’t help the poor man in the clearing alone, but perhaps whoever or whatever this was could.

________

Travelling further out into the forest for supplies had always been one of Kylo’s most dreaded journeys. The magical fae folk he exchanged his various supplies for his spells and potions with were always kind to him, but it never seemed to slip their mind to ask him why he always travelled alone. It tended to hurt a little when they questioned him on it, even though he knew they were just making friendly conversation. The truth was, Kylo didn’t really know how to connect to anyone in the forest on that level. His life hadn’t always been this way, he hadn’t always been the friendly local witch, dishing out his baked goods at his humble market stall. In fact, he’d spent his entire youth caught up with a gang of witches known as the Coven of Ren, who’d only been concerned with dark magic and striking fear into the hearts of anyone and everyone who crossed their path. Having finally escaped the coven, his retreat to a remote sanctuary deep within the forest and the subsequent creation of his gingerbread house had felt like a blessing. But years had passed by now, and he still felt disconnected and alone. Despite his weekly interactions with the fae folk and their acceptance of him, he still had to go home and feel the painful solitude every night.

Kylo was a short walk away from his house before the fox crossed his path.

He stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen a rare creature roaming around in the forest before, in fact, Kylo had seen pretty much everything the magical world had to offer. But there was something in the animal’s fixed gaze upon him that compelled him to follow it, as it doubled up on its tracks and retreated back into the forest, leading him through the trees, dashing across the ground with a sense of purpose. He followed the creature for what must have been around ten minutes before they reached the clearing and Kylo set his eyes upon the figure of a man, half buried under a layer of snow and frost. He gasped, dropping his basket and rushing over to the man’s side. The fox, who had previously been pawing at the man’s shoulder, took several steps back then, sitting and observing as Kylo inspected the situation.

From what Kylo could see, the stranger seemed no older than his early to mid 30s, roughly the same age as him. The man was dressed very differently to himself or any of the magical folk residing in the forest for that matter, and Kylo couldn’t sense any sort of magic surrounding him. _A human? How did a human end up here?_ And for a moment, Kylo’s heart wrenched at the thought he’d just discovered the dead body of some poor soul who’d ventured just a little too far out into the woods and fallen prey to the elements. Gentle and careful as ever, the witch turned the man’s body over onto his back and gathered him into his arms, gloved fingers pressing against the side of the redhead’s neck to check for a pulse. Upon sensing a reassuring beat of life underneath the pale, frosted skin, Kylo breathed a sigh of relief. He hoisted the both of them up, making sure to hold tight to the man in doing so.

‘You poor thing,’ Kylo muttered, fingers brushing a couple of frozen strands of hair away from the man’s face. ‘It’s alright, I’ve got you now.’

He pried his attention away then to glance back at the little white fox, but it was nowhere to be seen.

________

Once they were back in the warmth and safety of the gingerbread house, Kylo set a small charm in order to transform the stranger’s frosted clothes into a set of warm pajamas and tucked him into the seldom used guestroom bed. He stayed with him as he slept, monitoring his breathing for a while, terrified the poor thing would somehow just spontaneously die. Kylo wasn’t too sure how humans worked, but they seemed a lot more fragile than magical folk, from what he could tell. And judging by this particular human’s starved form and pallid complexion, Kylo assumed he hadn’t really been taking good care of himself all too well either. In an effort to remedy this, Kylo spent the next few hours in the kitchen, mixing up some herbal tea to calm the stranger’s nerves as well as cooking a simple, homemade soup. The man was so scarily thin, really all he wanted to do was cook him an entire banquet in the hopes of putting a little more meat on his bones and making him better. But Kylo had to accept that wasn’t how it worked. He could already tell this human was damaged, and healing him was certainly going to take some time.

The man awoke several hours later, confused and distressed. Fortunately by then, Kylo was back at his side, seated in an armchair, a dinner tray of soup and bread in his hands.

‘What is this?’ the man asked, groggily, sitting up and wincing slightly in pain. ‘Where am I?’

‘This is my home,’ Kylo told him. ‘I found you out in the woods. I thought you were dead at first. In fact, I think you _could _have died, if I hadn’t been lead to you…’

‘What on earth do you mean, _lead to me?’ _the redhead scowled.

‘Well, you were face down in the snow. Don’t you think that’s a rather…_odd _place to sleep? Luckily something lead me to you.’

‘What do you mean _something?_’

‘A fox.’

The man scoffed. ‘A fox, _really_? Is this some sort of joke?’

‘No, it’s not a joke. Aren’t you relieved? You couldn’t have honestly wanted to be left out there to die?’

The human’s gaze turned down to the bedsheets then. He swallowed. ‘No. I mean…I suppose not.’

Kylo felt slightly concerned then. ‘What were you doing out there in the first place?’

The human’s eyes seemed to glaze over at the question.

‘I don’t know. I just didn’t want to be…_ there_.’

‘You didn’t want to be in the forest?’

The man shook his head. ‘No. The city. I didn’t want to be in the city. It was too much. I just wanted to be here.’

‘What did you think you’d find here?’

‘Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore.’

Realizing he probably wasn’t going to get any answers in that area, Kylo gave up on his current line of questioning.

‘Do you at least remember how you ended up on the forest floor?’ he tried.

‘I remember collapsing, I felt worn out,’ the man shrugged, but his pained expression betrayed the affected indifference. ‘At the time, I suppose it just seemed easier to not get back up.’

‘It seemed easier to just let yourself _freeze to death_ alone out in the woods?!’ Kylo asked in dismay. ‘Don’t you think you deserve more than that?’

‘I don’t know,’ the redhead shook his head. ‘I didn’t give it a great deal of thought. Besides, you don’t know anything about me, how do you know what I do or don’t deserve? I could be a complete asshole for all you know.’

A couple of reluctant tears rolled down the human’s cheeks then, and Kylo wanted nothing more than to pull him into a tight hug. He put the dinner tray he’d been holding to one side and carefully gathered the emaciated human in his arms. To Kylo’s surprise, the stranger leaned into the embrace, and it wasn’t long before he was sobbing softly into Kylo’s shoulder. Kylo rubbed his back gently, trying his very best to reassure the poor trembling human that everything would be OK. He suddenly felt a strong sense of protectiveness over the man in his arms, and wanted nothing more than to ensure his safety and wellbeing.

Eventually, the man seemed to relax a little, laying back against the bedpost, somewhat composed.

Kylo used a simple charm to reheat the food on the nightstand without his guest’s notice.

‘You need to eat,’ Kylo told him, taking the bowl of soup in his hands and offering it to him. ‘Please? You’ll start to feel a lot better once you do.’

The man took it from him with shaky hands, but after several failed attempts to raise a spoonful to his mouth before clumsily dropping it back into the bowl, he gave up.

‘Sorry. I can’t do it. Maybe later,’ he told Kylo dismissively, cheeks flushing red ever so slightly.

‘It’s OK. Please, let me help,’ Kylo insisted, leaning over, scooping up a spoonful of soup and raising it to the other man’s mouth.

The man seemed hesitant at first, but his hunger seemingly got the better of him, and he allowed it. By the time he was finished with his meal, he seemed a little better. He’d at the very least stopped shaking, now laying with a hand over his still concave stomach with what Kylo could have sworn was the faintest hint of a smile on his face.

‘Do you have a name?’ Kylo asked him, after a while.

‘Armitage,’ the man replied. ‘Although I’d be perfectly happy for you to not use it. I hate it with passion.’

‘Well, I like it. It’s unusual,’ Kylo smiled. ‘My name’s Kylo. It’s not a widely used name out here, so I guess we have that in common.’

With a wave of his hand then, Kylo transported the mug of herbal tea he’d left to cool in the kitchen into the bedroom. It appeared hovering in the air with a sudden poof of purple smoke, before he lowered it down to the nightstand.

Armitage gasped, immediately sitting up in shock.

‘What in god’s name did you just do?!’

Kylo sighed, cursing himself for the slip-up. He’d hoped to have explained the whole aspect of him being a witch and somehow having found him in the heart of an enchanted forest with a little more tact.

‘Ah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you! I guess I was going to get to that…you see, Armitage, I’m a witch.’

‘I’m sorry, a _witch?’_

‘Did you not wonder why most of this place is made of candy?’ Kylo asked, gesturing around the room. ‘The entire structure of my house is made of gingerbread, can’t you smell the cinnamon?’

Armitage’s eyes bulged in what Kylo could only assume was mild horror then, surveying the room for the first time.

‘Oh, god…how could I have not noticed? Wait,_ I’ve heard this story before. _You’re not…you’re not going to….to _eat_ me are you?!’

Kylo chuckled. ‘Your parents must have read you a lot of fairytales written by humans when you were young, Armitage. Witches don’t _actually_ eat humans. Trust me, there’s no reason for you to be afraid of me. But… I would like you stay with me.’

Armitage frowned. ‘_Stay _with you? Why?’

‘I want to help you,’ he told him simply. ‘I want to see you get better. It seems to me like it’s about time someone looked after you, just a little.’

Armitage made some vague, non-committal utterance under his breath.

‘You’re mad,’ he told Kylo after a while, although there wasn’t any sort of unkindness in his tone. It almost seemed like a joke.

‘How about I leave you alone for a while to think about it?’ Kylo suggested, standing up from his seat. ‘For now, it’s probably best you get some rest. I won’t force you to stay if you don’t want to. But I have to admit, I would very much like the company.’

Kylo picked up the now empty dinner tray from the side, and turned to leave. He stopped when he felt a sudden tug against his cloak, looking down to see the other man grasping hold of the material, a vaguely pleading expression across his face.

‘No.’ Armitage shook his head.

‘Huh?’

‘I don’t want to be alone,’ the other man admitted. ‘Not tonight at least. Could you maybe just, stay?’

And it warmed Kylo’s heart to hear those words.

‘Of course, Armitage.’

That night, Kylo fabricated a bed for himself within the same room, falling asleep with surprising ease, comforted by the simple novelty of knowing there was another person nearby.

Several weeks went by, and as Kylo continued to look after Armitage and help him through the pain he’d experienced in his life back in the human world, the man seemed to warm to him. In fact, it didn’t take long before the two no longer viewed each other as strangers at all, forming an unlikely friendship through the circumstances. There’d even been moments of brief exchanged glances and words where it seemed there was something more to their dynamic than that, but Kylo didn’t want to push it. The man needed time to heal and recover, and that was what he was there for.

But then came the night that Armitage asked to join Kylo in his own bed.

They fell asleep together that night in each other’s arms, and Kylo felt reassured as he wrapped his arms around Armitage’s softening waist, that the frail human he’d discovered out there in the woods---miserable and on the brink of death just weeks before—now lay in his arms, safe, content and well fed.

The weeks and eventually months passed the same way every night from then on, each day the both of them growing closer and closer. Their bond quickly turned into love, and it seemed the more it grew, so did Armitage, unable to resist the food Kylo lovingly cooked for him.

‘I’m so glad I found you, pudding,’ Kylo told him one night several months later, squeezing his now rather plump boyfriend as they lay in bed together. ‘I love you.’

Armitage sighed happily. ‘So am I, dear. I love you too.’

________

A year had passed by since that fateful day Kylo had found him, and since then pretty much every element of Armitage’s life had changed for the better. He no longer felt as if he was simply surviving as he had been in the city. Back then, he’d seldom been seen without a scowl and often felt nothing but utter misery. But now? Now he found it hard to keep a smile off of his face. And he supposed, who could blame him? He’d spent the past year enjoying all the comforts of a quiet life in the forest with his new husband, while also being able to experience the wonders of the magic within it. From exploring the forest and meeting the various magical creatures, visiting the local fae market, and just being within the company of someone who doted on him and loved him so much, Armitage had never been more satisfied in life.

He had to admit, however, his new found happiness wasn’t the only thing that had changed considerably. Over the past year, Armitage’s previously lithe, underfed figure had blossomed into something he’d never expected. He hardly resembled his former self these days, having grown incredibly rotund, his body seemingly softening at the same rate as his personality. To Armitage’s initial surprise, he found that he preferred himself this way. He was a much kinder, happier and fatter man now, and he wouldn’t want to change a thing about that. Besides, his new chubby form and his now admittedly huge belly were simply a sign of how much his husband loved and cared for him. He’d never really enjoyed food back in his old life, seeing it as nothing more than fuel to keep him alive. But Kylo’s cooking had changed his views, and these days Armitage loved the delicious meals his husband prepared for him too much to waste even a single bite. Perhaps the best part of all of this was the fact that Kylo didn’t just love him _in spite_ of his new figure, but partly _for _it too. Every day, Kylo would lavish him with affection, kissing him, rubbing his belly and constantly telling him how incredibly handsome he was. Even now, hearing those words would send butterflies to his stomach. Back in his old life, he could have never imagined feeling so cherished, or ever having someone he loved with all his heart in return.

Armitage had been so swept up in the joy of his new life, he had almost forgotten exactly _how_ it had come to be entirely. That was, until one evening out in the woods.

It had been a long but pleasant day at the fae market, and despite the fresh layer of snow covering the forest floor and the cold air, Armitage was enjoying the walk back, one hand holding Kylo’s, the other clutching a basket of various treats from the market stalls. Kylo was often wary these days of taking him out too far during such weather conditions. Armitage knew most of it was because of his size and the fact he was human (who were apparently the most delicate and breakable creatures on the planet in Kylo’s eyes), and for the most part he found it amusing, but today, he’d insisted he join him. He’d enjoyed last year’s big winter fae market so much. From the delightful seasonal candy and the magical reindeers (which, it turned out really _could_ fly) there would have been absolutely no way he was going to miss it.

Eventually, however, their day had drawn to a close, and despite how much fun Armitage had had, it’d been a very long day out in the cold. And as they finally reached the familiar ancient stone monument, Armitage was glad to see they were nearly home. He wanted nothing more than to put his feet up with a mug of hot chocolate and some of the gingerbread cookies he’d acquired from the market (which seemed to hold a suspicious resemblance to himself with their orange icing hair and large, circular torsos, despite Kylo’s unconvincing insistence otherwise).

They’d just about reached home, the comforting aroma of confectionary filling the air, when the pair of them were suddenly stopped in their tracks by a small, white creature scuttling across their path. It stopped a short distance away, directly in the middle of the snow-laden path back to their cottage. It was a fox.

Kylo made some sort of remark at the sight of it, but Armitage found he wasn’t able to focus on anything other than the animal’s presence, its emerald green eyes.

Even though he himself was human, Armitage felt that there must have been something about the forest that had gradually gifted him the ability to perceive magic when he saw or sensed it. Perhaps it was the alleged ‘magical ancestry’ his mother had always insisted her family possessed. She’d died so long ago, he couldn’t even remember her telling him that herself. Instead, this claim had been relayed to him by Brendol as a way to make a mockery of her and poison Armitage’s mind against whatever memories he’d managed to retain. And, honestly, as much as Armitage hadn’t allowed his father’s cruel words to tarnish the fond memories of his mother, he had to admit he’d always found the idea laughable.

Until now.

‘What’s wrong, pudding?’ Kylo asked, a note of concern in his voice.

‘Nothing’s wrong, dear,’ Armitage assured him softly.

The look on his husband’s face suggested he really wanted to ask a _lot _of questions, but he didn’t, simply letting go of his hand and giving a gentle, reassuring nudge against Armitage’s shoulder.

‘It’s OK, go on.’

After a brief moment of hesitation, Armitage took several cautious steps forward to approach the fox, and the fox did the same. The distance between them closed shortly and Armitage kneeled down in the snow, holding out a gloved hand. To his delight, the animal nuzzled its face against his hand several times, before placing its paws against his knees and stretching its gaze up to look into his eyes.

The little creature’s eyes were the exact same emerald green as his own.

‘So it was you all along, was it?’ Armitage asked, fondly. ‘You were the one who helped Kylo save me?’

The fox moved its paws up to perch against one of his shoulders then, resting its head against the side of his face. Armitage wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to laugh or cry. He realized from the moment he laid eyes on it, this enchanted being wasn’t really a fox at all, and this was definitely not just a by-chance second encounter with a random forest creature.

As strange as it seemed, Armitage was certain he was currently in the presence of his mother’s spirit. It sounded absolutely ridiculous to even admit it to himself, but he knew it was true. From the outside, he knew the whole situation seemed absolutely implausible, but he had, after all, spent the past year living within a house made of enchanted candy with a literal _witch._ This fact alone made a lot of aspects of life a great deal easier to understand and believe.

‘I missed you,’ Armitage admitted. He realized he must have looked insane, but he couldn’t help it. He buried his face into the fox’s soft fur, feeling the tears burning in his eyes. He didn’t want to let it go.

He thought of the last instance he’d ever seen his mother in human form. It had been immediately after the accident, and neither she nor Armitage had been given the privilege of time to say goodbye. The memories were still painful to this day, the final image he had of her being her holding his hand in the wreckage of their car, promising him the both of them would be rescued, and that everything would be OK. But that hadn’t been the case, and the idea of what may have become of his mother’s soul had always haunted Armitage ever since that horrendous day. Had she just simply ceased to exist? Or worse, was she now trapped in some sort of hellish, conscious non-existence where everything was just a dark and endless loop of nothingness? She didn’t deserve that. Unlike Brendol, she had always been a kind and loving parent, in fact, just a nice, _decent _human being. In the years gone by since her death, it had pained Armitage just to imagine what may have become of her.

But none of that seemed to matter now. Here she was, and there was something about the surrounding and soothing serenity of the fox's presence as he held on to it that told Armitage that his mother was OK, wherever she really was.

After what felt like the longest time, the fox climbed down, taking several steps away from him once the pads of its feet sank into the snow. A cold wind howled through the nearby trees then, scattering a storm of pine needles and dead leaves into the snow. The fox looked up to the sky, and gave Armitage one last tacit look, before turning to scuttle off into the depths of the forest.

‘Wait…’ Armitage’s voice was barely more than a whisper as he watched the animal retreat, and with it, the sense of comfort and familiarity his mother’s spirit had enclosed him within began to fade.

Armitage felt like he’d been staring back at the trees, unsure of what to do or how to feel for several minutes before he heard Kylo’s approaching footsteps, the large hand grasping his shoulder and squeezing it. Realistically, it had probably only been a matter of seconds.

‘Armie, you alright?’

Honestly, Armitage wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and dried the tears from his chubby cheeks. It felt bittersweet, but he couldn’t deny that he was happy too.

‘My mother always used to tell me this forest was magical. To think, I never believed her. She’d always promised to take me here someday, but then…’ he trailed off.

‘So that’s the reason why you came here in the first place?’ Kylo asked.

‘I suppose.’

‘I’d say she’s been watching over you all along,’ Kylo decided, clearly understanding now what had just happened. ‘Perhaps she just couldn’t access you in the human world.’

‘I know, and I’m glad. I just wish she could have stayed for longer.’ Armitage’s voice seemed to catch a little in his throat then.

‘Hey, come here.’ Kylo pulled him into a hug. Armitage felt himself relax immediately, comforted by his husband’s familiar smoky, herbal scent. It may have hurt to have had to say goodbye to his mother again, but he didn’t regret the encounter. It comforted him to know she hadn’t just been cruelly wiped from existence as he’d feared all these years.

Eventually, the two of them returned to their home hand in hand, and Armitage was glad to be met with the warmth and sweet scent of cinnamon as they stepped foot inside the cottage. And it was when Armitage was finally sitting comfortably with his hot drink and plate of fat gingerbread men that Kylo returned from the next room with a gift for him -- a crystal fox figurine with sparkling green emerald eyes, enchanted for good luck, and forever reminding him that he never had, and never _would _be alone ever again.


	8. Feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Armitage take a trip down to the Enchanted Lake and find themselves discovering an unexpected surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of this story's content is inspired by conversations with my witch au friends so ty all, this hell-year really wouldn't have been the same without you all <3

The Enchanted Lake was one of the most ancient, highly reputed areas in the local magical world. Even to the fae folk and the other mystical creatures that lived in the Enchanted Forest, this area was shrouded by mythology. The lake and its many waterfalls and gem encrusted caves were considered to possess their own unique magical properties, although it was often disputed what these were. Some believed the water brought good luck to those who swam in it, others believed the caves and their many gems had healing powers. Aside from that, the area surrounding it was one of the most beautiful, picturesque locations in the whole forest, which was really saying something. Everything here was different. From the winding, coiled barks of the trees ascending to the sky like nature’s helter-skelters to the multitude of vibrant flowers and luminous toadstools that peppered the iridescent grass. The vegetation growing in the area was like no other, with some of the most bizarre, rare and delicious looking fruits growing from hanging branches and bushes. Not to mention, the area was also home to some of the land’s rarest and seldom seen wildlife.

Located out in one of the forest’s most secluded areas, the journey to the lake had been quite the trek for Kylo and Armitage, and by the time they’d reached their destination, Armitage’s eyes lit up at the sight of the water.

‘Oh, good god, at last,’ he breathed, waddling over to the edge of the lake and splashing some of its water on his face. By now, it was the height of summer and Kylo had designed his husband a whole range of new clothes to keep him cooler in the heat, but at such a large size it was still unavoidable that Armitage would overheat during a particularly long walk.

Kylo smiled to himself at the sight of his husband, crouching down by the side of the water. He looked positively ravishing in his shorts and t-shirt combo. He’d picked out Armitage’s favourite shades and patterns for the outfit to make it as personal to him as possible, but he had to admit he may have designed the shorts a little shorter than requested and the t-shirt ever so slightly cropped so he could spy the occasional glimpse of his husband’s large, beautiful belly.

‘Why are you staring at me, Kylo?’

Kylo realised just a little too late that Armitage had turned to stare back at him, slightly worried expression on his face now.

‘I…’

‘Oh god, there’s not something on me is there? A bug? Is there a bug on me?!’ Armitage cut him off, panicked arms feeling around his body and back as far as they would go. ‘Please tell me there’s nothing on me!’

‘No, _no_, sweetheart. You’re fine, I _promise_,’ Kylo finally snapped out of his stupor, laughing it off. He joined him by the water. ‘Are you ready to go for a swim yet?’

‘Remember what else you promised?’ Armitage reminded him.

‘Right, yes. Of course. Which flavour?’ Kylo asked, reaching into his small enchanted basket and producing two wrapped ice-lollies, one pink and one orange.

‘_Both _please, dear.’

‘Armitage, you know you shouldn’t eat _too_ much before swimming...’

But Armitage was preoccupied by this point with his ice-lollies, taking them from Kylo and placing one in each hand, gleefully taking a bite from each.

They sat by the edge of the lake for several minutes, their toes dipped in the water. Kylo looked down and watched the luminous scales of the carp swimming just below their feet, pointing them out to Armitage as they listened to the soothing whoosh of the nearby waterfall. The sun cast a wonderfully bright glow against the lake’s surface, and it was a truly lovely day. Kylo was excited to take his husband for their first swim together. He’d been looking forward to it all week.

Once Armitage was done with his ice-lollies, they undressed into their swimming shorts. Kylo practically hurled himself into the water straight away, immediately dunking his head underwater and enjoying the beads of water drip down his hair and face as he resurfaced. It felt so refreshing. The water was cool and wonderful on his skin. He looked up to Armitage, still standing at the edge hesitantly, arms crossed over his chest.

‘It isn’t too cold is it?’

‘No, it’s just right.’ Kylo held out his hand. ‘Come on, take my hand.’

Kylo could never get over how amazing his husband looked when he was showing as much skin as he was now. Armitage constantly complimented Kylo’s muscular, toned physique, admiring his six pack and his biceps whenever they were in bed or bathing together. Which felt good, Kylo wasn’t about to deny that, he only wished Armitage would compliment himself a little more from time to time as well. If he knew it wouldn’t have embarrassed the living hell out of his husband, he’d have gladly told Armitage how much he loved the way his huge belly and backside jiggled as he took his hand and eased himself down into the water.

‘Oh, god! Kylo, you said it would be warm!’ Armitage shrieked as the water immersed his body.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry, pudding!’ Kylo gasped, before accidently bursting into laughter. ‘I forgot you humans feel everything a little more extreme than us magical folks.’

Armitage gave Kylo a scolding glance, but the side of his mouth quickly turned up into a smile. ‘I suppose you’re forgiven. This is a lovely place for a swim, after all.’

‘Do you think you’ll be alright?’ Kylo asked, a hint of worry in his voice then as his hand remained grasped around his husband’s. ‘Swimming, I mean. I know you haven’t really tried it, since…uh…’

‘Since I gained weight?’ Armitage raised his eyebrows, and for a brief moment Kylo was worried he’d offended him, but was fortunately reassured moments later when the other man chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be OK. Maybe I’ll even be better at it, my fat will help me float at least.’

Kylo wasn’t entirely sure that was how it worked, but then again, he’d never really seen anyone his husband’s size before. Mostly every humanoid creature living in the forest was of a slim build, which he was fairly sure was one of the reasons the fae folk were so fascinated by his husband whenever they visited the fae market. That and his gorgeous red hair of course, which was virtually unheard of in the forest too.

They began to swim at a reasonably slow pace around the opening body of water, Kylo frequently looking to ensure Armitage was nearby. To his relief, his husband seemed to be absolutely fine at swimming, and judging by the smile on his face, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. It was a reasonably short swim to the other side of the lake, but by the time they reached it and climbed to the edge to rest, Armitage was understandably out of breath.

‘Are you alright, sweetheart?’ Kylo asked, wiping the water away from his own face before going over to his husband’s side to do just the same.

‘I’ll be OK,’ he nodded, gaze cast over to the light waterfall and area of glimmering, multi-coloured gemstones nearby, eyes lighting up suddenly at the sight of them. ‘Perhaps I should just cool off somewhere that doesn’t require me to keep my legs moving constantly.’

Kylo smirked at that. ‘You want to look at the gems, don’t you?’

For some reason, Armitage always seemed to feel the need to hide his fascination with collecting fancy looking trinkets from their walks despite there now being an entire cabinet filled with items ranging from shiny gemstones to unusual leaves and flowers (which Kylo preserved with his magic) in their gingerbread home.

‘I’m just going to see if there’s any I don’t have,’ Armitage admitted quickly, cheeks flushing red. With a little effort, Armitage hauled himself up and made his way over to the waterfall.

Looking out at the glistening body of water before them, Kylo chuckled to himself. He found his husband’s fascination and awe of the magical world incredibly endearing. They spent so much time in one another’s company, sometimes it was easy to forget Armitage hadn’t always been part of this world at all. This was odd, Kylo supposed, given his fiercely protective nature around his human whenever they ventured out into the wider world outside their beloved home.

‘Kylo?!’

Kylo’s gaze immediately tore away from the water to look in the direction of the waterfall, panic setting in when his eyes were met with nothing but glistening gemstones and the waterfall. He got up, racing over to where his husband had been only moments before.

‘Armie?! _Armitage_, where are you?!’

‘I’m in the waterfall, Kylo. Come on, just step through,’ Armitage’s voice replied, oddly calmer than it had been several seconds beforehand.

Kylo stared at the water running from the waterfall. It _sounded_ like his husband was simply standing behind it, and yet he could see through the water and straight to the rough stones of the cliff edge behind it. He hesitated for a brief moment, before taking a step forward through the waterfall, stepping inside.

What followed was one of the most bizarre sensations he’d ever experienced. All of sudden, it felt as if the water had enveloped him entirely, his vision dissolving into darkness, followed by a rapid descent that made his stomach lurch and his heart pound hard in his chest. Kylo very rarely felt fear anymore, at least not for himself, but right now…_right now_…

The darkness dissipated as quickly as it had arrived, and suddenly Kylo found himself standing on flat, hard ground, Armitage staring back at him, surprisingly calm, if not slightly excited expression on his face.

‘_Finally_, I was worried you wouldn’t step through at all. I’ve been waiting for you for ages!’ his husband smiled.

‘…but…how can you have been waiting ages? You were gone less than thirty seconds…’ Kylo frowned in confusion, trailing off as his eyes began to adjust to whatever it was he was now looking at. They were in some sort of large, strange looking room that seemed to resemble an elaborate greenhouse. Vines coiled around the walls and beautiful flowers and vegetation climbed high to the glass roof in a strange imitation of the Enchanted Lake’s surrounding greenery. Through the glass panels of the roof, a pleasantly warm and bright light shone down into the room. And as Kylo looked back to Armitage to ask him _just what on earth_ was going on, he noticed his husband was now dressed in one of his fanciest, blue and tan suits. He looked down at himself then to see that he too was wearing the smartest outfit he owned, his all black, slim-fit suit, complete with gloves and his best witch’s hat.

‘Pudding, I’m confused. Please explain to me what’s going on.’ Kylo was utterly bewildered.

‘I’m not entirely sure. I think this must be some form of this lake’s magic you were telling me about,’ Armitage explained, motioning to his watch. ‘I’ve been waiting here for you for nearly an hour. Now, please come and look at what’s been set up for us!’

Armitage took Kylo’s hand and led him through the indoor shrubbery and through a floral archway to reveal a large, ornate table and chair set filled with an enormous quantity of food. He led them over to the chairs and as they sat down, Armitage gestured towards a card left on the table.

‘Look at this. I was scared too, before I read it, but I know it’s OK now.’

Kylo picked it up and read the calligraphy on the card:

_‘For the Witch and the Human._

_We thank you for your visit and hope you will enjoy our gift to you._

_Courtesy of the spirits of the Enchanted Lake.’_

Part of Kylo wanted to look at this situation with a little more scrutiny, but seeing the look of anticipatory glee on his husband’s face, he decided to just accept it. This was truly one of the most deeply bizarre and magical places in the whole forest, he supposed, but he still trusted it. Despite all his issues with Han and Leia, they’d always trusted this place, after all. He’d been brought up by stories about it. Plus, the spread before them _did _look amazing. He was incredibly shocked Armitage had been able to resist it while he waited for him. He loved his husband dearly, but self-control was decidedly not one of Armitage’s well-known traits anymore.

Kylo surveyed what he could see of the spread before him. Stacks of miniature, seemingly perfectly proportioned cakes piled high on a cake stand, each decorated with various shades of fondant icing and delicate floral sugar art. There was what looked like a large plate of antipasto items nearby the stand, including a selection of cheeses that could even rival the fae market’s famous cheese emporium. Several pitchers of juice glistened at the middle of the table, the glass of which looked ice cold and wet to the touch. An array of jam jars aligned themselves next to a platter of pastries and breads. A bowl of fresh fruit to the right of that, some of which Kylo didn’t even recognise himself. Nearest to him, he noticed a large bowl of colourful, fresh looking pasta salad, packed with a variety of vegetables and a delectably scented dressing. The list went on.

Armitage wasted no time in digging into the first of the many offerings, starting on one of the little cakes, closing his eyes and savouring the first bite before taking another and closing his eyes as he sighed blissfully. Kylo poured himself a class of juice from the mystery pink pitcher and watched his husband enjoying the treats in adoration. Despite his huge appetite, Armitage always seemed to remain poised and polite whilst eating, almost daintily so, albeit a little faster than the average person. The extra speed was probably a good thing, Kylo decided, given how much he ate at every meal.

‘How is it, sweetheart?’ he asked, taking a sip from his glass and realising the juice he’d poured was a very floral tasting rose lemonade, cold, refreshing and just a little pleasantly bitter. _Perhaps he should make his own version for Armitage once they were home._

‘It’s delicious, Kylo,’ Armitage beamed, taking another tiny cake from the stand in his chubby fingers and handing it to him. ‘You have to try one!’

Kylo took a bite and took in the tarte, citrusy flavour of the sponge and the contrast of the soft, sweet icing. Armitage was right, it_ was _delicious. By the time Kylo had finished his cake, his husband was now sampling the rest of the table’s vast array of delights. Now, Armitage was piling his plate high with a selection of the antipasto near him, before taking out an extra plate and spreading out a generous layer of jam from one of the provided jars of what looked like a raspberry flavour over a croissant.

Kylo picked out a sensible portion of the vibrant pasta salad and poured himself a second glass of the rose lemonade. The food was all incredibly lovely but most of his attention was still spent fondly watching his husband enjoy all of the treats set out for them. Armitage looked so happy, it truly warmed his heart. Kylo was reminded, then, of one of the first times he’d ever heard of the Enchanted Lake, a story Leia had told him many years ago, long before he’d turned to the dark side. Something along the lines of it having a sentience of its own, and how it offered those deserving of it gifts. He’d assumed, up until this point, the story had been just a _little _more metaphorical than this. But he couldn’t complain, Armitage had his gift of a massive feast of all his favourite foods and Kylo had the gift of seeing his beautiful husband so happy and satisfied.

Time went on, and after polishing off at least half of everything the table had to offer, Armitage leaned back in his chair with a content smile on his face, hands linked together and resting on top of his huge, now incredibly bloated belly, eyes closed. After several minutes, it became apparent by his quiet snores that Armitage had dozed off, and strangely, despite having a comparatively miniscule amount of food, Kylo himself felt his eyelids growing heavy. It wasn’t long before his eyes closed entirely also, and he too fell asleep.

\------

Kylo awoke rather abruptly to the glare of sunlight, chirping and soft ground beneath him. And then an abrupt jolting motion against his body. Someone’s hands on his shoulder, shaking him gently. He squinted, rubbing his eyes as they finally adjusted to see Armitage kneeling above him, concerned expression, now dressed once again in the summery outfit he’d worn to the lake earlier that day.

Kylo raised his arm to look down at his sleeve to see that he too was wearing his previous attire.

‘Oh good, you’re OK,’ Armitage breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I couldn’t wake you up at first.’

Kylo sat up, looking around at their surroundings. They appeared to be back where they’d started, right by the edge of the waterfall adjacent to where they’d swam across to. Time had elapsed, the water before them reflecting the orangey-pink glow of the now setting sun.

‘Armitage, have I been dreaming, or did that really just happen?’

‘I’d say so,’ Armitage laughed, motioning down to his own exposed belly, which by now looked practically fit to burst straight out of his rolled-up t-shirt and shorts. ‘I’m so full, Kylo. I have no idea how I’m going to be able to walk home like this.’

‘Not to worry,’ Kylo smiled, gently patting Armitage’s belly before finally gathering the motivation enough to stand. He wouldn’t _dream _of making his husband walk home in the aftermath of such a feast, after all. With a wave of his fingers and a plume of dissipating smoke, Kylo conjured up a large purple tent held up by four tall candy cane posts and with it, a comfy and well-fitting pair of pyjamas upon his husband’s body.

‘We can stay here tonight! You’ve always said you’d like to sleep under the stars here, after all.’

Armitage looked overjoyed, glancing down at his new clothes with a smile before standing up himself and slowly waddling over to the entrance of their tent to peak inside.

‘Oh, this is going to be fantastic!’ he beamed, making his way back over to Kylo and pulling him into a tight hug, chubby arms enveloping him entirely. Armitage planted a kiss against his cheek, and Kylo felt himself melt into his husband’s warm embrace.

‘You know,’ Armitage told him, head resting against Kylo’s shoulder. ‘I really think we should go swimming more often.’

Kylo chuckled. ‘I agree, pudding. I agree.’


End file.
